


A Shell, Some Earbuds, and Too Many Memories

by Pokey_314



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drama & Romance, F/M, Friendship, Head Boy Draco Malfoy, Head Girl Hermione Granger, Hogwarts Eighth Year, Muggle Technology
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-10-19
Packaged: 2020-12-14 03:34:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 51,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21009056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pokey_314/pseuds/Pokey_314
Summary: Hermione and Draco go back to Hogwarts for their final year and become Head Boy & Girl. Both have many problems and emotional issues, but will they get along enough to realize they aren't that different? And will they crawl out of their shells and bond over something as simple and heartfelt as music? [Some violent scenes, but nothing more than the Harry Potter series]





	1. Letters, Doorbells, & the End of Summer

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any characters, plot, setting, or other things associated with it. That all belongs to J.K. Rowling, and I could never hope to compete with her work.

A/N: _**Important timeline note!**_ I have shifted some dates around because of a few errors I made initially and while the story is supposed to be 8th year after the Battle of Hogwarts, it's currently set in the 2019-2020 academic year so that's why there's tech in this story.

* * *

Hermione's POV

It's just one more week before I go back to Hogwarts one final time for my 8th and last year of school. It seems so weird; that after all the pain the war gave us, we're still going back to school and carrying on with our lives. I feel sad remembering that my parents will never see me graduate. Just another thing that the war has stolen from me.

It'll be so strange going back by myself. Ron and Harry were able to get fast-tracked into becoming Aurors because of how much they did during the war, but I still feel like going back for one more year of school would have done them good. Especially for Ron, as his grades weren't exactly the best in our sixth year.

As I sit on my bedroom floor, I finally stop procrastinating and pull out my letter from Headmistress McGonagall. I will never get used to saying that. As I read it for the sixth time today, I wonder if life could possibly get any worse. I may have gotten the prestigious honour of becoming Head Girl, but Malfoy is Head Boy. Honestly, this is a disaster waiting to happen. Malfoy and I will be at each other's throats all year. I wonder why he's coming back for school. With a feeling of shock, I realize just how alone I will be this year. All the students coming back are in a separate class from the seventh years to keep numbers at a reasonable level. Even if we weren't separated Head's have their own dorms, which would mean no Harry, Ron, or Ginny. I won't have anyone to talk to at all, and I'll essentially be isolated.

I break down at the thought and let myself cry. I slowly try to calm down and realize this has been my third breakdown this week and it was only a Wednesday. Ever since the war, my emotions have been all over the place. Wiping the tears from my face, I go back to reading my letter for the 4th time. My classes for this year are Arithmancy, Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Study of Ancient Runes, Charms, Transfiguration, Alchemy, and Ancient Studies (focuses on really old magic like old Egyptian spells). Though I never told Ron or Harry this, I've always wanted to be an Auror or work in the Department of Mysteries. They would have laughed at me but I think that any other job would leave me seriously bored, especially after all of our adventures. The only thing that might hinder me is a fear heights.

I turn the timetable over to see the list of school supplies and textbooks needed for this year. I already have most of the supplies, with the exception of new quills and parchment. I never had the opportunity to replenish my supply last year and I haven't really left my house since I returned after the Battle of Hogwarts. The books we need are all pretty standard and I shouldn't have too much trouble getting them. I'll have to go to Diagon Alley to get my supplies, but that can wait till Friday.

For now I start packing my clothes and supply of wizarding money. I pack a couple of sets of casual clothes for evenings and Hogsmeade trips; two sets of pajamas, one for winter and one for summer; and about 7 sets of uniforms. I quickly grab my small pouch of galleons and stow it under my pajamas, then put a special lock charm on the suitcase as an extra measure of caution.

Going downstairs, I walk towards the kitchen to fix myself some lunch. As I reach the fridge to pull out the ingredients for pasta, the doorbell rings. Strange, no one's come by since I first came back home, not even the neighbors. I quickly run over to the door and open it to reveal Harry, Ron, and Ginny.

"Hey Hermione, mind if we come in?" says Harry with a small smile on his face.

I'm too shocked to really answer and just move out of the way to let them in.

"Uh… what are you guys doing here?" I ask.

"Well, it's been two weeks since we heard from you, so we decided to pay you a visit. Then we found out that you hadn't left the house since the beginning of summer!" says Ginny exasperatedly. "We also wanted to see how one of our best friends was doing especially since you stopped replying to our letters two weeks ago!

That's right, the letters just started piling up around the same time that I got my Hogwarts letter came. Too many memories and flashbacks from the war had been brought to the forefront of my mind whenever I saw their letters, especially their questions. After a while, I couldn't really bring myself to reply to them anymore.

"Hello… Hermione, are you there?" asks Ron

With a start I realize I've spaced out again.

"Oh sorry Ron, I just got lost in my thoughts. So, how are you guys? What have you done in the two weeks since I last responded to your letters?" I can tell Ginny wants to know what I've been doing and why I stopped replying, but she can tell I want to shift the conversation and starts talking about their week to get it over with.

"Well I got my Hogwarts letter," says Ginny, "congrats on getting the Head Girl position by the way. Ron and Harry both finished Auror training, and Bill and Fleur had their baby shower. It's going to be a girl!" Ginny squeals as she says this last part. "So what have you done the past two weeks? And what do you think about the new Head Boy?" She wiggles her eyebrows when she says this, but based on their expressions I can tell she hasn't told either Ron or Harry who the Head Boy is this year.

"Yeah Hermione, who is this 'elusive' Head Boy Ginny keeps teasing us about? The suspense is killing me, just tell me who it is and put us out of our misery." Ron confirms my suspicion that they don't know who it is, and I feel kind of apprehensive about telling them.

"Alright, I will answer your questions on one condition, you are not allowed to make a big deal about it or hex anyone. Got it?" I see Harry raise his eyebrows at the last statement, but he agrees and so does Ron. Ginny just waits expectantly, with a slightly mischievous expression on her face.

"Alright, to answer your question the Head Boy is the one and only Draco 'Ferret' Malfoy. And don't worry, I'll find a way to deal with him. Before you try to interrupt me, these past few weeks have been spent reading, listening to music, crying at random times, reading my Hogwarts letter, and memorizing my timetable." I look at both Harry and Ron to gauge their reactions. Harry looks gobsmacked and Ron looks ready to puke. Judging by their facial expressions, I can tell they are only thinking about Malfoy and haven't actually listened to the last part. With a glance at Ginny, I see her look sympathetically at me.

"Wow 'Mione," starts Harry, "guess we've missed a lot of information these two weeks. And Malfoy, is he really coming back for school? It just doesn't seem like him at all." Well at least he has responded pretty well to the news. Not quite what I was expecting since he and Malfoy were the biggest pair of enemies in the whole school. I guess now it's down to Ron.

"Unfortunately, he is. I sent a letter to McGonagall to confirm if he is, and she responded with a yes." I reply.

"I don't know what to say, you and Malfoy have to share a dorm and common room? That'll end well." Ron says in a sarcastic voice. Phew, I was dreading an outburst from Ron, but I guess he's matured over summer.

"I was wondering if you guys would mind coming with me on Friday to Diagon Alley. I need to get supplies for school and I don't really want to go by myself." I'm actually glad they came today. Going to Diagon Alley has never been too appealing to me since its always crowded, now I can ask for some company without it seeming too needy.

"Yeah sure Hermione, I can get my stuff as well then as supposed to doing next week. And next time, don't be afraid to ask us to accompany you. You're one of our best friends, we'd love to spend time with you." Says Ginny. Yay, one down and two to go.

"Ron and I would be happy to come seeing as how we haven't seen you all summer" Replies Harry. This is great, I won't be by myself and I'll get to catch up with them.

"Well then, since that's settled, how about I fix you guys some lunch while you're still here. Is pasta okay with you guys?" I made sure I knew how to cook since I found out about the house elves in our Second Year, and the skill has come in quite handy for many situations.

"That'd be great Hermione! We'd love to stay for awhile." says Ginny.

It's nice seeing my friends. It was way too lonely this summer, but I couldn't bring myself to leave my house. With a feeling of contentment and a big smile on my face, I go to prep lunch.

* * *

Author's Note: I know this chapter was a bit of fluff, but it will be a bit of a slow burner so bear with me. We will see Draco's POV in the story. Feel free to send me feedback as it is always good to hear from readers. Thanks, Kathryn D.


	2. Good news, Guitars, & a Family Meal

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any characters, plot, setting, or other things associated with it. That all belongs to J.K. Rowling, and I could never hope to compete with her work.

* * *

Draco's POV

I stare at the piece of paper feeling like someone just gave me a million Galleons, I mean even for me that'd be quite a lot of money. I. Am. Head. Boy. Never did I even come close to thinking that I could get such a prestigious position. My feeling of elation dies down as I notice that Granger is Head Girl. Of course she is, Ms. Mudblood Know-It-All. There was no way in hell that she wouldn't have been Head Girl; she is the living embodiment of the perfect student, she intimidates most kids, and she was a very prominent member of the Order during the war.

She is essentially the polar opposite of me in every aspect. The only things that were similar between us are our top grades, though she still was better than me in everything except Potions, our ability to intimidate kids, and our love of books. Most of my friends and peers would laugh at the thought, but I have a very strong love of books. They are my only constant in my cold, dark world. Books have never judged me at any point in time. They've never made fun of me like my schoolmates, or berated me like my father. They are my only solid rock and the perfect escape. Okay, a little bit of a cheesy explanation. I've obviously been reading too much angsty poetry.

Wow though, I am Head Boy. I can't believe it, what was McGonagall thinking when she chose the two of us? We'll kill each other within the first month, not to mention the fact that I'm an ex-Death Eater. That stuff doesn't exactly look or sound that good to most people. It's not like I would try and pull anything funny, but I highly doubt Granger and her friends are going to trust me very much.

After spending almost an hour just looking at the letter from McGonagall and taking the information in, I start to look through my timetable, book list, and supply list. My courses aren't too bad, Arithmancy, Potions, Defence Against the Dark Arts, History of Magic, Charms, Transfiguration, Alchemy, and Muggle Studies. Wow, I have Muggle Studies. Didn't think that would ever happen. Maybe I can get some help from Granger. Wait a second, 'ask Granger for help', where did that thought come from?

*knock knock*

"Come in!" I yell out before I even think about it. The door opens and my mum steps into my room.

"Draco dear, I was wondering if you were going to join us for dinner tonight. Your father and I are worried about how reclusive you've been this summer. It's not healthy, especially for someone your age. Not to mention it's not healthy for your already very pale skin. You'll be going back to school in a couple of weeks and I think you should get used to being around people again." I sigh in my head at her words. Trust her to think I'll lose my ability to communicate with other human beings because I've spent my whole summer inside. Having said that, I am somewhat scared of having to interact with my peers when I go back. Not so much because of social skills, but mostly because I know most of them will be scared of me or hate me. Anyway, I think about her offer for a moment before responding.

"You know what, I think I just might join you for dinner tonight. I have some very important news to tell you and father." I can't wait to see my father's reaction. Although he should have been sent to Azkaban, he's been allowed to serve his sentence after I leave for school. Since the war just ended the ministry doesn't want to pull families apart so soon, apparently even Death Eater families. For now he's just under house arrest and isn't allowed to perform any magic.

"That's excellent Draco! I'll go tell your father. Dinner will be served in about 30 minutes." My mother then leaves the room and shuts the door behind her.

Since the war, the ministry has implemented a few laws on the use of house elves. If you want house elves, you have to pay them, and they are hired by contract. My family didn't want to deal with the hassle of hiring them, which means that my mother cooks and cleans now, while my father just sits in his study brooding all day.

I gently place my Hogwarts letter on my dresser along with my journal, my sketch pad, and my stationery holder. I reach under my bed to pull out my guitar. I've always liked playing it, and I find that it calms me. I mostly play a few old lullabies that my mother sang to me when I was little, but recently I've been experimenting with making my own music. I play for about 20 minutes, then I place it back in its case before freshening up for dinner. When I'm done, I make sure to grab my letter and badge before walking down our staircase.

The Manor has always astounded me with it's elegance and beauty. The staircase is made of marble with gold accents on the railing. There are many paintings of the wizarding countryside and small communities on the walls. In between each, is a small ornately carved wooden table with either a vase, an ancient artifact, or a sculpture. My mother has an excellent taste for art and decor, so she adds to the collection quite often. It has gotten to the point where she cycles through them every other month to give each piece a time to shine.

I finally make my way to the small dining room, to find my father reading an old book on some sort of old or ancient magic, and my mother just finishing with the setting of the table. As soon as I walk in, my father puts his book down and smiles. It's been many years since he last did that and for some reason it kind of unnerves me. Maybe it's because I suspect deceit of him.

"Ah Draco my boy, finally decided to join us in the land of the living?" he asks me in a very cheery tone. I'm surprised, he usually critiques what I'm wearing, or berates me about some inconsequential thing, and he definitely isn't cheery. I guess the death of Voldemort has had a very good effect on him, we'll have to wait and see to know for certain though.

"Yes father, I have come back. There is something very important I would like to share with you and mother once we have all sat down." At that point my mother returns with the last dish of the meal, and we all take out seats.

"Wow, we haven't had sausage and mash since… since about 10 years ago!" I say. This is one of my favourite meals from when I was a smaller child.

"Yes well, when you said you were joining us for dinner I decided to make your favourite to lighten the mood a little bit."

"Thank you very much mother, it tastes simply amazing!" I say after taking a bite. It was no joke, it was even better than when Dobby, our old house elf used to make it. Poor Dobby, I heard that he died after showing up last year to rescue Potter and his friends at the Manor.

"So what's this important thing you'll be telling us about? I'm dying to know what it is!" My father says. I still feel shocked by his attitude but continue on.

"As you both know, I received my letter from Hogwarts yesterday about my enrollment for my final year of schooling. Well, I have been confirmed as to attending Hogwarts and I'm also... Head Boy." My mother looks very excited and gives me full grin, but my father speaks first.

"That's wonderful Draco, perhaps we may yet be able to redeem the Malfoy name. Do you know who the Head Girl will be? Is she in Slytherin?" He asked the last question with a somewhat teasing tone, but more importantly he asked 'the dreaded question'. I don't know how my family will take the news that I will be living with Granger for the whole year.

"Um, you see... the Head Girl is, the mudblood, Granger. She's from Gryffindor. You know, the girl whom aunt Bellatrix tortured last year?" I add the last bit as a bit of a point. Though I don't really care for Granger, her screams will forever haunt my conscience. Speaking as someone who has been victim to it before, no one deserves the wrath of my aunt.

"Oh, well that will be interesting. I know we don't like muggleborns, but try to restrain yourself from hurting her. It wouldn't look to good on us, and it might create a lot of problems here at home." I almost choke on the piece of sausage I have in my mouth when my mother says muggleborn instead of mudblood. My mother's words are very carefully said and she seems a little reserved.

"Anyway it matters not, I highly doubt anything will change what has been decided and I'm sure there is a very good reason as to why she was picked." My father says in a very jovial manner. "We might as well move on to more meaningful topics while we have the whole family gathered. Draco, have you thought about when you will go to Diagon Alley to pick up your supplies?" Both my parents have moved on pretty quickly from the news and I'm honestly very surprised. I expected disapproval from both of them, and a very angry rant from my father.

"I was thinking of going on the Friday before we go to school. The one the week before we leave. That way the stores will have stocked up on all the necessary supplies, but there won't be as much of a rush."

"Excellent thinking. I'll write to the ministry and see if they might let me leave to accompany you and your Mother to Diagon Alley, as well as Kings Cross station to see you off. It's highly unlikely, but it would still be nice to see you go back to Hogwarts for your last year." I feel like I'm missing something, but maybe something happened while I locked myself in my room for the past few weeks. Both my parents are a lot calmer and seem wiser than they used to be.

The rest of the meal is conducted in silence, but I don't mind as I'm too busy enjoying the food. My mother has truly outdone herself. Just as we finish up, my mother gets up and returns with a small berry pie.

"Wow mum, you didn't have to make dessert as well."

"Nonsense dear, we haven't seen much from you this summer and you'll be leaving soon to go to Hogwarts in just a couple of weeks. It's the least I could do, especially since I just needed to put it in the oven. I'd already made it up to have on Sunday dinner, but I think it'll serve for a better occasion today."

We finish quickly and I promptly collect the dishes to wash them up. In the kitchen I charm them to wash, dry, and put themselves themselves away to save my mother the work. Once I'm done, I walk back to my room and read my letter again to check that I'm not dreaming. Today has been wonderful, and I feel truly happy for the first time in over a year, maybe even two.

Putting down my letter, I reach for my journal and begin writing today's entry.

_August 14th_

_Today I got my Hogwarts letter..._

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Author's Note: Again, please review! Feedback is always welcome. Have a great week, till next time!


	3. A Late Start, & an Early Riser

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any characters, plot, setting, or other things associated with it. That all belongs to J.K. Rowling, and I could never hope to compete with her work.

* * *

Hermione's POV

I wake up this morning to the sound of loud pounding on what must be my front door.

*bang bang bang bang bang*

"One sec, I'm coming!" Ugh, who could possibly be knocking on my door at 8am on a Friday? Wait, oh dang it's Friday! I glance at my alarm clock as I throw off my covers and see that I was supposed to meet Ginny, Harry, and Ron at the Burrow half an hour ago!

I quickly run down the stairs to open the door while putting on a cardigan so I look decent, and manage to half trip down the last 3 steps.

"Ow!"

I stumble towards the door and open it to the smiling faces of my friends.

"There you are! We've been waiting for you for the past 45 minutes!" says Ginny.

"Sorry everyone, I stayed up late last night making sure I had everything I needed to get on a list, and trying to make space in my trunk for all the stuff I'm getting today." I say as I invite them inside and lead them to the living room. "It was like a game of Tetris!" My friends all make weird faces when I realize that they've never heard of it. Right, it's so easy to get my life as a muggle and my life as a witch confused. "Tetris is a puzzle game where you have to fit these weirdly shaped pieces into a grid while they fall down, if that makes any sense. Maybe I'll show you guys some day."

"Oh okay 'Mione. We should probably leave as soon as possible to beat the rush, so why don't you go quickly get changed? Don't worry, we'll wait down here." says Harry.

"Thanks Harry, I'll be down in a sec."

I run up the stairs and quickly change into a tank top and cardigan, with a pair jeans. I grab my shopping list, beaded purse, and wand before I run down again to meet my friends. Harry is sitting on my couch while Ginny and Ron are exploring the tech in the room and trying to figure it out. Ron in particular is turning the dials on the radio next to the TV.

"Okay, I'm ready to go guys! Should we floo there or apparate?" I ask as I sling my purse over my shoulder and adjust it.

"Floo would probably be best, it's easier. Especially since there's only 4 of us." says Ron. Of course he and Ginny would know what it's like trying to floo with too many people.

"Alright, let's go then." At that we all floo there one after the other, and arrive in Diagon Alley.

* * *

Draco's POV

I wake up early today at 6am. I open my curtains to let in the early morning sunlight to my room. After I finish doing this, I go to my bathroom to take a quick shower and brush my teeth. When I finish, I walk out into my bedroom towel drying my hair. Grabbing my satchel and reviewing my shopping list mentally, I make my way downstairs to grab my breakfast.

I get down to the dining room, my parents are nowhere to be found, but they are obviously awake somewhere as my mother has made pancakes and there are a few missing. I sit down and quickly wolf down a couple of them as well as a cup of Earl Grey tea. When I finish I carry my dishes to the kitchen and soak them in the sink.

Walking down the hall, I grab my cloak and open the door to the gardens. It really is beautiful at this time of day out here. Many things help me wake up in the morning, sunlight, tea, and in Hogwarts it's coffee as the Slytherin dormitories don't let in much light. However I find that taking a walk in the crisp morning air really makes me feel fresh and ready to seize the day. I spend about 20 minutes just taking in the smells and sound of the nature around me, and appreciating the beauty of it. Most people would laugh at me now, Draco Malfoy the ex-Death Eater, spending my time appreciating the wonders of nature. I would be the laughing stock of Slytherin if any of them ever found out.

When I've sufficiently woken up, I make my way back to the Manor at a slightly brisker pace than before. I arrive to find my mother getting the last of her stuff ready.

"There you are Draco darling, thank you so much for helping with cleaning up breakfast." She says as she finishes putting on a set of black gloves on and hooks a small black, lacey, parasol on her right wrist.

"You're welcome mother, it's the least I could do." I say.

"Well we'd best be going now. It's a shame the ministry denied your father's request to come with us, but we aren't exactly the most trustworthy people on the planet." Very true, I hadn't expected the Ministry to say yes, but you'll never know if you don't try. It would have been nice to go to Diagon Alley one last time with the whole family. It would have been nice to go with a father who wouldn't berate me the whole time either.

We both walk past the wards protecting the manor and apparate there together. We appear in Diagon Alley only for me to see the Golden Trio walking out of the Leaky Cauldron. Could this day have taken any more of a drastic turn? I keep my head down and guide my mother to turn us away from them in the hopes that they won't notice us.

"Malfoy? Is that you? You'd dare to show your face here after everything your family did in the war?"

Of course, trust the Weasel to turn everything sour. I groan to myself and turn to face the red face of one Ronald Weasley. And here I thought we might be able to keep things civil.

* * *

Author's Note: Please review, I will always accept feedback. Have a great week, till next time!


	4. Rivalries, Quills, & a Simple Fist Fight

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise, nor anything affiliated with it.

* * *

Hermione's POV

We had just walked out of the Leaky Cauldron when we bump into Malfoy and his mother. Of course, how could my day get any worse? Oh right, Ronald Weasley could open his big mouth. He just had to antagonize them. They weren't even doing anything. Wait, did I just defend Malfoy? I guess spending too much time inside by myself has addled my brain.

"Weasel, you may not have realized this but the world does not belong to anyone, least of all you. How about we avoid any conflict, and just continue on our merry ways?" Malfoy says in a slightly sarcastic tone. I'm surprised, he is trying to contain the argument as much as possible. Maybe he's matured a bit over the summer like… well I guess it's just Harry now.

"Yeah right Ferret, you probably found out we were going to be here today and decided to come here to attack us." I start trying to pull Ron away before this escalates and they both lose their cool. I notice Malfoy's mum starting to look very tense, almost scared.

"You should take the hint from the know-it-all behind you, look even Scar-Head over there has more brains than you!" I turn to look at Harry and see that he's looking about as nervous as Narcissa. I decide then to pinch Ron and see if that snaps him out of it.

"Ow 'Mione! Why did you pinch me!" Ron's face is very red and flustered but I don't care.

"I'm trying to save your's and the rest of our lives right now. We all know that Malfoy would easily beat you in a duel if it came to it. Let's leave them alone before any of us do anything we'll regret later." Oh my gosh, I already sound like a Head Girl and it's still a week before I'm supposed to fulfill that position.

"Ha, like I'd regret it." But I can tell Ron is seeing my point. "This isn't over Malfoy. If you lay even a finger on her this year, I swear to you that you won't live long enough to regret it." With that we walk off in the direction of Flourish and Blotts.

"I can't believe he had the cheek to show up here after everything he's done!" At that point Harry loses his cool, going from slightly nervous to completely furious.

"And I can't believe you actually did that back there! I know none of us like him, but you can't just threaten someone on the street like that! Especially since we're both about to become Aurors. We're supposed to be more responsible than this. Just because no one likes them, doesn't mean you won't get sent to Azkaban if you kill him." Wow, Harry has never reacted to Ron's immaturity like this before. I guess he's seen too much bloodshed the past few years. We all have, but Harry's had the worst of it.

"I agree with Harry, that was a very stupid move you bloody prat." Ginny looks as angry as Harry sounded. I feel proud of both of them.

"Since when did you all start acting like Hermione? Have you been meeting up during the summer planning different ways to yell at me?" says Ron is a flustered and accusing tone.

"No Ron, you're just such an arrogant prat sometimes! Just because Malfoy's a git, it doesn't mean you have to be as well!" It's only been one day and he's already annoying me. I don't know when it started, but at some point last year, he just starting really annoying all the time and being so arrogant. It's kind of sad actually because I always thought he was so nice and cute when we were younger.

"Alright, we'll continue this discussion later. I just need to pick up some parchment, ink, and quills from here. Ginny if you tell me how much you need of each I can get it at the same time and you can look for the rest of your stuff. Harry and Ron, feel free to go look at the quidditch store. We'll just be shopping around here for the next hour or so." It feels so natural to delegate the tasks. Kind of like when we were planning our night time adventures in Hogwarts. Oh how I've missed them.

"I need about 8 rolls of parchment, 5 bottles of ink, and 3 new quills. That should come to a total of about 10 galleons and 6 sickles. Here, you go."

"Thanks Ginny, how about we all meet up at the Leaky Cauldron again at about 12 to have lunch and then we can go visit Weasley's Wizard Wheezes." I say to the group. They nod and we all part ways.

I make my way to the writing section to grab all the supplies. I've just balanced everything and am making my way to the counter to pay for them, when I trip over someone's foot and everything flies everywhere. I feel a pair of strong arms catch me and help me up. I look up and see the concerned face of Draco Malfoy. I watch as his face transforms from an expression of concern, to one of confusion, then settling on one of disgust.

"Ew, I just touched a mudblood. Watch where you're going next time." Of course, why should I have expected any other reaction from a Pureblood like Malfoy? I feel kind of disappointed in him as I thought he'd changed a bit over the summer, but I guess he hasn't.

"Well if you have nothing else to say, I'll be on my way." Using my wand to help levitate the parchment, quills, and ink, I get to the counter and pay. When I'm done I deposit the bags into my purse and walk off to find my textbooks for this year.

Once I finish looking for my textbooks and browsing for more novels to read over the school year, I make my way over to the Leaky Cauldron to see a commotion ahead. I see Malfoy beating up Ron and I rush over. Harry and Ginny are watching in shock and Draco's mum is looking more and more pale, standing off to the side.

* * *

Draco's POV

I had just walked out of Flourish and Blotts when I met up with my mother again. I was too lost in thought about what had just happened to actually process what my mother was saying. I had helped Granger up after she fell over and when I first realized it was her I didn't feel repulsed like I usually did. I actually felt bad for her. I felt a need to comfort her, but I knew I had to keep up appearances so I put on a facade.

"-and so I ran into Mrs. Zabini when. Draco are you even listening to me?"

"Oh, sorry mum. You were saying something about Mrs. Zabini?" I'm surprised she's here. I guess Blaise is going back to school as well.

"Well, she was saying that her son, Blaise is sad that you won't be in the same dorm as you this year, but he was thinking maybe you guys could set up a study schedule to meet in the library every now then." We had just turned the corner to bump into Ron, all by himself and looking very angry.

"Watch where you're… Oh Malfoy! You're just the person I wanted to see." I push my mum behind me to protect her as the look in his eyes and the tone of his voice is starting to worry me.

"Oh, are you trying hide you little mummy. Are you afraid I'm going to hurt her, or mess up her already ugly face? At least I don't have the filth of Voldemort all over my family name." At that point I lose it and punch him squarely in the jaw.

"No. One. Talks. About. My. Mother. Like. That." Each word is punctuated by a punch to his jaw, or a kick to his shins. He takes a step back and lunges for me.

"I've been waiting to do this for a very long time." He says to me. All of a sudden I feel winded, like someone slammed a brick wall onto my chest. I find myself sprawled out on the ground on my side, and I feel him kick my gut a couple of times. When I hit the ground, I must have hit my head because I feel a lump starting to form on my forehead. I look up and see Weasley about to punch my face. I close my eyes and wait for the impact that never comes. I hear a thump and see Ron sprawled on the ground with Granger holding him down.

"Ronald Bilius Weasley! What were you thinking! I thought we talked some sense into you earlier!" Hermione thunders. She looks terrifying and I'm very glad that I'm not on the receiving end of her wrath right now. I feel very scared and I quickly get up and hobble over to my mother who looks like she's seen a ghost. I take a glance around and see Potter motioning for me to hurry up and leave before Ron gets back up. I run with my mum to the apparition point and we apparate as soon as we get there.

In an instant we're back at the Manor and I hobble down the path till we're inside, leaning on my mother for support. As soon as we get inside, my father comes out of his study to greet us.

"Hello, how are my… oh my goodness what happened?" My father just looks at the two of us in shock.

"We ran into… Potter's gang. Do you have… any ice…?" I still feel winded from when Ron shoved me earlier, and it didn't help at all when we apparated here.

My father rushes us both into the living room, to the couch by the fireplace. He urges both of us to sit and runs off to go get some ice for me, as well as water for all of us. In the whole time since the fight started till now, my mother has not said a word. I glance at her in concern and I see the she's still as pale as when we left.

"Mother, are you okay?" I'm starting to get more and more worried about her. I've never seen her react like this.

"I knew that the world didn't exactly like us, but I didn't think that they hated us that much. When you guys started fighting, no one tried to stop it. I was so scared, especially when you fell. I'm so glad that Granger girl, or whatever her name is, stepped in to help. If she hadn't, you would either be dead or in Azkaban." There was so much worry in her voice I couldn't resist giving her a hug. As soon as I did so, she starts crying.

"Shhh, it's all right mother, don't think about the what 'ifs'. What's done is done and nobody can change that." My father walks in with the ice in a blanket and some water. He steps in to calm my mother down and hands me a glass of water with the ice.

I slowly climb the stairs and go to my room. Taking the ice pack and sticking it on my forehead. I lay there for about half an hour just going over what happened in my head. When I think that the swelling has gone down enough, I get up, put the ice on my dresser, and go to my bathroom. I undress and step into the shower, turning it as hot as I can stand. As soon as I step in, I lose myself in the soothing feel of the water beating down my back.

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Author's Note: I hope you guys enjoy it so far. Just a reminder that I really appreciate feedback, and please review! That's all for now, have a wonderful week!


	5. A Knock, a Rant, & Painful Memories

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise, nor anything affiiated with it. I also do not own any songs used in this fic, all rights to those songs belong to the artists, go support their work on Youtube, Spotify, or other music platforms.

* * *

Hermione's POV

I'm making myself dinner when I hear a knock at the door. I put down the ladle I'm using to stir the pot of penne, turn off the stove to let it simmer, and walk over to the door. I check through the peephole to see Ron standing at my door.

"Hermione?" He calls out. "I know you're in there. Why are you ignoring me?" I scoff quietly at his words. I open the door, leaning against the frame with one hand on my hip.

"You don't know why I'm ignoring you? I'm pretty sure both Harry and I have been very clear about why we're upset. Harry may have cooled down a bit, but that doesn't mean I have or even will anytime soon.

We all told you to leave Malfoy and his mother alone. Then as soon as we leave you by yourself so we can go shopping in peace, you go and start a fight with him! You could have killed him and ended up in Azkaban! You're a war hero, one of the most famous, and you were in a very busy place surrounded by lots of children. Just think of the example you were setting for them.

Mainly though, I'm ignoring you because you were being a pig-headed, arrogant, thoughtless, fool!" My rant leaves me breathing a little heavier than before. He just doesn't get it, and he never will. No matter how many times we try to get it into his head, he still thinks he can just waltz around getting himself into fights with everyone. He'll say he's sorry and do exactly what he said he would NEVER, EVER do.

"Mione, you know I try my best." There's a pleading tone in his voice and it irritates me so much. But what annoys me even more and just throws me over the edge is the fact that he threw in my nickname almost to try and calm me down or appeal to my softer side. If he wasn't one of my best friends, I would have slapped him like I did Malfoy in third year.

"No, Ronald, this is not your best! You actively go looking for trouble, and you just can't do that anymore. You have NEVER understood when you've gone too far, when you've pushed the limits. You're pushing my resolve to the very edge. If this is truly your best then I feel very sorry for you, because no one would be able to stand someone whose best isn't acceptable in most of society!" I can feel the anger coursing through my veins, and I see Ron start to shrink as he realizes that I am almost at my breaking point. I can tell he's also shocked that I just insulted him like I did right there, but he smart enough to not make a big deal about it and just stay quiet. Behind the anger in my eyes though, lies an undercurrent of sadness.

Trying to hold back tears, I finish what I started. "So if this is how you try to apologize, by making excuses and pretending you didn't do anything wrong, then I don't want to see your face around here or near me at all. You can come back once you realize where you failed, and try to improve."

With that I slam the door and run upstairs to my bathroom. Trying to blink back the traitorous tears leaking down the side of my face, I splash my face with water from the sink and attempt to calm down. I walk out to my bedroom and sit on the bed, taking shuddering breaths and hiccuping because of the ache in my throat. Taking a couple of slow, deliberate, breaths, I feel my heart rate slow down from the racing pulse of it earlier. I reach over to my side table and pick up my phone and earbuds. Ignoring the fact that I haven't had dinner yet and the pasta is still on the stove getting cold now, I plug the earbuds into my phone and lie down on my bed. I pick my "melancholy music" playlist and hit shuffle. I find that when I'm sad, its soothing to get as sad as possible by re-living the hardest moments in my life, getting it all out, so that I can move on till the next time I feel sad.

The first song that comes on is Save Myself by Ed Sheeran.

_I gave all my oxygen to people that could breathe_  
_I gave away my money and now we don't even speak_  
_I drove miles and miles, but would you do the same for me?  
_ _Oh, honestly?_

This song reminds me of all the times I helped my friends. With homework, schemes, or just having fun, I always helped them. I was rarely thanked, not that I thought it mattered at the time, but after a while I began to think that they took my help for granted. Which really hurt since they were some of the first people who really appreciated me besides my parents.

_Offered off my shoulder just for you to cry upon_  
_Gave you constant shelter and a bed to keep you warm_  
_They gave me the heartache and in return I gave a song  
_ _It goes on and on_

At first all of this was fine, but then I started asking them for help. The first few times they were confused, "Hermione Granger asking for help?" It was just for small things, asking if they had any spare paper, if they remembered what the homework was. They didn't understand or realize that something was going on. This all started happening around the time in fourth year, when we first saw the Dark Mark and Harry ended up in the tournament. I became increasingly anxious and, though it doesn't show much on my grades, my performance was slipping. I would forget to plan my homework and pulled all-nighters. I forgot to bring certain supplies to class and had to borrow from others. A lot of it seems trivial now, but it seemed like such a big deal at the time.

_Life can get you down so I just numb the way it feels_  
_I drown it with a drink and out-of-date prescription pills_  
_And all the ones that love me they just left me on the shelf_  
_No farewell  
_ _So before I save someone else, I've got to save myself_

I began drowning in my work, though I never really showed it. I gave up on asking Harry and Ron for help, and instead would work with Luna or Neville. We would meet in the library when Harry and Ron were at Quidditch practises to avoid suspicion and questions. Even then I was helping Neville with stuff that he struggled on, even as both him and Luna helped me. It was a kind of mentorship thing and it worked for a while. Then the fears started taking over again and I would spend a lot of time lost in thought about "what ifs".

_I gave you all my energy and I took away your pain_  
_'Cause human beings are destined to radiate or dream_  
_What line do we stand upon 'cause from here looks the same?  
_ _And only scars remain_

The Yule ball rolled around in our fourth year and Ron never asked me to the dance. I'd loved Ron since third year, but I didn't think much about it till then. I waited and waited for him, but the thought never crossed his mind. He finally asked me, but it was a last minute thought. I felt really hurt then, and accepted Viktor's offer to go with him. Then at the ball he had the nerve to make fun of the one person who really cared about me at the time and insult my judgement. He argued with me and made me feel horrible, our fight drawing the attention of almost everyone around us.

Later on in fifth year I helped Harry with advice for Cho. In sixth year, both Harry and I were ignored by the ones who we loved and consoled each other. Love really started to hurt and I wondered if I'd ever look at it the same way or if I'd start to become numb to my feelings of longing that I kept hidden inside. I began to think that by suppressing those feelings I'd build up resistance to them and eventually just stop feeling anything.

_Life can get you down so I just numb the way it feels_  
_I drown it with a drink and out-of-date prescription pills_  
_And all the ones that love me they just left me on the shelf_  
_No farewell  
_ _So before I save someone else, I've got to save myself_

The threat of Voldemort began to weigh heavily on my mind in sixth year and I began to worry not just for Harry, Ron, and myself, but for my parents as well. I worried that the Death Eaters might go after them. I couldn't bear it if they died because of me. All the stress messed with my head, but I kept up a mask to prevent a flood of emotion from rushing out. I began to get very good at it, only cracking a couple of times, like when Ron and Lavender kissed after the Quidditch match and ran in on me and Harry consoling each other. I cracked, attacked him with enchanted birds, then sobbed into Harry's arms.

_But if don't_  
_Then I'll go back_  
_To where I'm rescuing a stranger_  
_Just because they needed saving just like that_  
_Oh, I'm here again_  
_Between the devil and the danger_  
_But I guess it's just my nature_  
_My dad was wrong_  
_'Cause I'm not like my mum  
_ _'Cause she'd just smile and I'm complaining in a song_

_But it helps_

_So before I save someone else  
_ _I've got to save myself_

After that I was determined to get stronger and it worked for a while. Then Dumbledore died after the Death Eater attack and the stress, paranoia, and haunting thoughts returned. When I got back home that summer, I came up with the plan to obliviate my parents and send them to Australia. Unfortunately it didn't work in the end, and they died anyway when I tried to bring them back after the war.

Then there was the deal with Ron. When he left us in the forest, he broke my heart for the third time. Once again he left me alone, and Harry had to deal with the mess he left behind; me. When he came back I forgave him and we were okay for a time, but our relationship was forever tainted in my eyes. I began to realize that I didn't love him the way I once did, and I started drifting away from him, particularly after the war.

I drifted away slightly from everyone because of the death of my parents. I retreated into a shell, but when my friends asked me how I was, I replied that I was fine. I wish they had tried harder to see what was going on, but I can't fault them for not understanding my mixed signals. Although I enjoyed many memories with my friends in our last years at Hogwarts, I would always remember the stress, hate, heartbreak, and pain that came with it.

_Life can get you down so I just numb the way it feels_  
_I drown it with a drink and out-of-date prescription pills_  
_And all the ones that love me they just left me on the shelf_  
_No farewell  
_ _So before I save someone else, I've got to save myself_

_And before I blame someone else, I've got to save myself  
_ _And before I love someone else, I've got to love myself_

As the song ends, I relax and feel my tears start to stop. I roll over to my side and remove one earbud. As soon as I finish that, I start drifting off to some much needed sleep.

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Author's Note: This has more to do with the lyric content, but I don't condone drugs and alcohol especially since I know most of y'all are probably under age. Unfortunately Ed Sheeran's songs aren't the most PG in my opinion, but the underlying message is what I was trying to get at. I'm sorry if anyone was upset by this. Please review or send me a message, I'd really like to hear feedback on this chapter in particular as it's the first time I've incorporated a song into the story. Any and all suggestions are welcome. Thank you all for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful week. Till next time!


	6. Goodbyes, Early Arrivals, & Music

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise, nor anything affiliated with it. I also do not own any songs used in this fic, all rights to those songs belong to the artists, go support their work on Youtube, Spotify, or other music platforms.

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Draco's POV

I wake up earlier than usual today; probably because of nerves and anticipation since this is the last time I'm going off to Hogwarts. I shower and brush my teeth quickly, then double check my suitcase to make sure I have everything.

"All right, I have my uniforms, casual clothes, dress robes, suit in case no one is wearing dress robes, cloak, pajamas, underwear, socks, mittens, hat, scarf, quills, parchment, ink, envelopes, textbooks, reading books, wizarding chess board… I think that's it. Oh wait, my guitar! I can't leave that behind."

I scurry over to my closet and pull out my guitar from where it lies next to my spare suitcase. I pick it up before jogging back to my stuff so I can finish checking everything.

I close the lid on the suitcase and latch it shut, placing a lock spell on it. I pull out my satchel and check to make sure I have my water flask, journal, wand, special replenishing ink quill, my most current book, and coin purse.

*creak*

"Draco, if you're done packing here, we'll have breakfast before we leave." Says my mother standing at the entrance of my room.

"Yeah, just give me a minute." I reply. She nods before shutting the door quietly behind her.

I put the satchel on, look around my room for the last time till the next break, and shut the door to my room.

I walk down to breakfast and sit at the table. My mother has made scrambled eggs with feta and spinach bits, and bacon. I put both of them on an English muffin and eat it quickly.

As soon as I'm done eating I collect my suitcase and stand with my mother at the door to leave for King's Cross station.

"Draco," I look up at my father standing opposite me in the hallway and wringing his hands. He looks at me, eyes filled with sadness. "I hope you know that I will always love you and your mother."

"I know father, I truly do, I'll visit as soon as I can." My words shock me. I hadn't though about that before but they just popped into my head. "Don't give up in Azkaban, I know you'll make it through." Even though Malfoys rarely show affection, I walk over to give my father a big hug and I'm surprised to feel him hug me back. After a few seconds, we break apart and I join my mother once again. With a sense of impending doom we apparate to King's Cross after crossing past the wards of the manor.

Crossing through the barrier we see the Hogwarts Express waiting in the station. Many first years look at it in awe and I feel a small smile on my face. I wish I was that young again, that I'd be able to see the train and just marvel at it.

After having given my mother a smaller hug than I gave my father and waving goodbye to her, I walk onto the train with my trunk and find my compartment. The head's have their own compartment and I decide to sit there, even though Granger will probably be there as well, because I just can't bring myself to sit with my old friends.

I get to the cabin and true enough Granger is already there. She appears to be using some sort of flat looking book that glows. Except that she's placed it on her lap on it's side so that it's horizontal. Books really shouldn't be a stiff and straight as that. She's pushing little buttons on it and it's making something appear on the face of it. There's also a white cord going from her ear to the book thing and I wonder if it's some muggle medical device or something.

"Hello Granger." I say as I nod in her direction, trying to keep the confusion off of my face.

"Malfoy." She says as she glances up briefly, then continues what she's doing.

We both seem to come to a non-verbal decision to not rile each other up today. After that small interaction we just mind our own business. I pull out a book to read, glancing up, every now and then to try and figure out what she's doing. She catches me staring at one point and laughs.

"That's right, you wouldn't know what this is seeing as how you detest us muggles and muggleborns so much." There's a little glimmer in her eye that I notice wasn't there when we had met last week in Diagon Alley. "This is a computer, or a laptop." She says as she removes the white nub from her ear. "It is a piece of muggle tech that you can use to do different things, like write, more easily and faster. For example I'm using a system, kind of like when you charm something, to write a story. The buttons on the lower half of the laptop each correspond with a different letter, number, or symbol. When you press the keys, it will type them on the screen."

"What else can you do with it?" I ask, my curiosity getting the better of me. She just smirks in response. I feel my face turn a bit red in embarrassment, which with my skin tone means that I look like a tomato. She giggles a bit before answering my question.

"Well you can put music onto it and play it from the speakers in computer, similar to the sonorus charm, or from these things." As she says this she holds up the white nubs on the white cord. "These are called earbuds. Here, why don't you have a listen." She hold up one of the 'earbuds' and motions for me to sit down next to her. I do so without thinking about how it might look to other people, and she shows me how to put it in my ear. It feels a little uncomfortable, but not too much. She then hits a triangle button on one of the sections on the glowing part of the 'computer'. I hear the sound of a song start playing in my ear.

"What's the name of the song?" It starts with a guitar melody and an underlying sound of a piano.

"The name of the song is Let Her Go by a band called Passenger. Surely you know what a band is right?" I can tell she's mocking me a bit now but I just ignore her.

_Well you only need the light when it's burning low_  
_Only miss the sun when it starts to snow_  
_Only know you love her when you let her go_  
_Only know you've been high when you're feeling low_  
_Only hate the road when you're missing home_  
_Only know you love her when you let her go  
_ _And you let her go_

She begins to hum along with it, closing her eyes, and swaying her head a little bit to the music. There's a smile on her face that I've never seen before. It's more relaxed than the one she has around Scarface and Weaselbee.

Staring at the bottom of your glass

_Hoping one day you'll make a dream last_  
_But dreams come slow and they go so fast_  
_You see her when you close your eyes_  
_Maybe one day you'll understand why  
_ _Everything you touch surely dies_

I realize that I actually like this song, and I listen as hard as I can so I can try to play it on my guitar later.

_'Cause you only need the light when it's burning low_  
_Only miss the sun when it starts to snow_  
_Only know you love her when you let her go_  
_Only know you've been high when you're feeling low_  
_Only hate the road when you're missing home  
_ _Only know you love her when you let her go_

I start liking the song more and more, and I try taping and arranging my fingers on the table as if visualizing how to play it on the guitar.

_Staring at the ceiling in the dark_  
_Same old empty feeling in your heart_  
_Love comes slow and it goes so fast_  
_Well you see her when you fall asleep_  
_But never to touch and never to keep  
_ _'Cause you loved her too much and you dive too deep_

She opens her eyes and I feel her looking at me with a slight smirk on her face. I guess she's noticed that I'm actually enjoying the music.

_'Cause you only need the light when it's burning low_  
_Only miss the sun when it starts to snow_  
_Only know you love her when you let her go_  
_Only know you've been high when you're feeling low_  
_Only hate the road when you're missing home  
_ _Only know you love her when you let her go_

_And you let her go_  
_Oh oh oh no_  
_And you let her go_  
_Oh oh oh no  
_ _And you let her go_

"Do wizards have any way of recording and playing songs?" she asks me. Her question surprises me as I thought that she would know.

_Well, you only need the light when it's burning low_  
_Only miss the sun when it starts to snow_  
_Only know you love her when you let her go_  
_Only know you've been high when you're feeling low_  
_Only hate the road when you're missing home  
_ _Only know you love her when you let her go_

"Well, most pureblood wizards and witches just listen to old records on a record player with a horn to make the sound louder. I believe it's called a phonograph. If you want to listen to a song from modern days, we learn to play it on an instrument and perform it for ourselves. Because of this, most purebloods are good a playing music by ear and rarely use sheet music."

_'Cause you only need the light when it's burning low_  
_Only miss the sun when it starts to snow_  
_Only know you love her when you let her go_  
_Only know you've been high when you're feeling low_  
_Only hate the road when you're missing home  
_ _Only know you love her when you let her go_

_And you let her go_

"Wow, we haven't used record players in the muggle world for a while now." She thinks about this for a little bit. Then she asks for the earbud back. I give it back to her and she goes back to typing on her … book thing, whatever it's called. We spend the rest of the journey in silence, only talking to the trolley cart lady to order food when she comes by.

When we get near Hogwarts, Granger recommends we change into our robes so I go to the nearest bathroom to do so while she changes in the cabin with the blinds down.

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Author's Note: Again, please review, your feedback means a lot to me. Thank you for reading, and have a nice week! Till next time.


	7. Tables, Sorting, & Wall Sockets

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise, nor anything affliated with it.

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Hermione's POV

We arrive at Hogsmeade Station, so Draco and I have to sit in the Head's carriage. This year I can see the thestrals as they lead us up to Hogwarts, I reckon most of the students can. I still can't believe I didn't know they existed till Harry made us ride them to the Ministry. Both Draco and I sit in silence, trying to take in the mostly dark view outside. It takes us about 20 minutes to get to the castle itself, about 20 minutes of silence between us, and another 10 to be able to get to the doors and get out of the carriage.

We walk into the hall, and I see that though there are the main house tables, the 8th years are all to share a table at the back. Draco and I sit on opposite ends of the table, while most of the returning students still sit based on house. Headmistress McGonagall stands up when everyone is seated, motioning for everyone to settle down and stop talking.

"Welcome students, to another year at Hogwarts. A big welcome especially, to our first years and our returning class of 8th year students. We will begin the sorting ceremony now." She then sits down and Professor Flitwick stands up to call the names of the first years.

"Carroll, Sharon" Says Professor Flitwick.

"Gryffindor!" Shouts the hat after some deliberation. The rest of the ceremony is pretty much the same.

"Doorley, Mavin"

"Slytherin!"

"Elkin, Dominic"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Grant, Alice"

"Ravenclaw!"

This process continues with a total of 7 new Gryffindors, 8 new Slytherins, 6 new Hufflepuffs, and 9 new Ravenclaws, a lot less kids than usual. I guess parents were hesitant to let their kids go to Hogwarts after what happened, not to mention Voldemort destroyed all the records of new muggleborns so they wouldn't have been able to send out letters to them as easily as usual. This year there are less insults called out from rivaling houses and I'm glad. I thought it was awful when Fred and George used to boo new Slytherin students, that was just plain mean. McGonagall gets up again to address us.

"Older students, I'm sure you remember all the rules. First years, no going into the Forbidden Forest, no walking in the halls after curfew, and no going into the Restricted section. I know a lot of students have been requesting this, so I'm sure a lot of you guys will be happy to know that we installed WiFi into the school during the repairs we made to the castle over the summer. The password is SherbertLemons, no space between the words, in honour of our late Headmaster Dumbledore. That will be all, remember that we are trying to encourage house unity, so try to be nice. Enjoy the feast!" I see many purebloods being very confused at the WiFi bit, and I laugh quietly to myself with many muggleborns and half-bloods.

At that, the tables filled themselves with piles of food. I immediately reach for the mashed potatoes, roast lamb, gravy, and roasted vegetables. I have a glass of pumpkin juice and some bread and butter pudding for dessert. Once everyone finishes, the prefects lead everyone to their dorms, and McGonagall calls Malfoy and I into her office.

We walk in and sit in front of her desk. She then looks at us for a moment and then speaks, "I know what the history is between you two, but I really believe that if you put aside your differences, you will realize how similar you are to each other. Please try to pretend to get along at least, we need to set a good example for our other, younger students. Alright, moving on, you do know where the Head's dorms are correct?"

We both nod our heads and she just says, "Okay." Before continuing onto the next topic.

"The password is currently Phoenix Wings, but you can change it once you've given the portrait the set password. If you have any problems with the accommodation, feel free to Owl me or just talk to me about it. I think that covers everything, so off you go."

With that she shoos us out and sends us on our way. We walk together in silence till we reach the rooms. The dorm is set one floor above the library down a quiet side hallway. The portrait is of a small boy and girls happily playing with a kite in a field. We state the password, and they let us in. We'll probably change it later on.

To the right is the common room, which has a light brown wallpaper with dark hardwood floors. There is a soft gold carpet next to the fireplace and the couch. The couch is a deep green with red accent cushions. The fireplace is the same colour as the floor but with gold and silver vines twirling around the edges and on top of the mantle. There is also a small wooden bench inlaid in the wall next to a window. The bench is covered with a small cushion that fits perfectly and and extra silver and gold striped pillow.

To the left is a small kitchenette with a white marble counter, silver oven, and gold edged overhead cabinets. There is also a small white fridge and wooden cabinets under the counter. The sink is stainless steel, has two sections in it.

Directly in front of us is a set of dark wooden stairs that spiral out of sight. We walk up the stairs together and there are two doors that would lead to rooms above the kitchenette and common room. The door on the left has a silver handle with small green vines twirled around it, and the door on the right has a gold handle with roses dotted on it. We walk into our rooms and shut the doors at the same time. My trunk is already at the foot of my bed, but I'm too tired to unpack right now.

I look around and see that the colour scheme is the standard red and gold. The bed is just like the beds in our old dorms, but slightly bigger. The closet looks like the one in Narnia, one of my favourite book series. There is a dresser drawer and a desk. Above the desk, the wall feels slightly sticky. I guess that means that you can place things on the wall without tacks or sticking charms.

I sit down on the edge of my bed and feel the mattress sink a little, but not too much. I pull out my phone and laptop and plug them into the wall socket. Then I unlock both of them and connect them to the WiFi. I'm glad I have WiFi, as it means that I can play music from YouTube as well. I put them down, and get up to briefly check out the bathroom.

I walk into it and see that it connects to both rooms. Yay, that means Malfoy could walk in on me if I don't lock the door and vice versa. The bathroom has two sinks; one with red accents and the other with green, two shower stalls; one with a red curtain and another with a green curtain, and one toilet cubicle in the corner. I'm about to leave when I hear Malfoy curse, "Ow! What the bloody hell?!" Curiosity getting the better of me, I open the door to Malfoy's room and see him holding his arm, a pair of tweezers, and sitting next to a wall socket.

* * *

Draco's POV

After Granger and I part ways, I walk into my room and explore a little bit. Most of the colours are silver or green. The bed is similar to our old ones, but slightly bigger. I put down my satchel on the chair in front of the desk and pull out my journal and wand. I put the journal with my wand and quill on the side table next to the bed. I'm about to sit down when I see a small rectangle on the wall with little rectangular holes in it. I've seen them before, but I never found out what they do. I walk over and sit down in front of it. I look at it for a while studying it. After examining it for a few minutes, I pull out a small pair of tweezers from my luggage and poke it into the hole. I feel a jolt go up my arm and after it feels like it's buzzing. More from shock than anything else, I curse, "Ow! What the bloody hell?!"

I hear the bathroom door open and see Granger looking at me. Then she bursts out laughing. She laughs like this for a minute or so till she calms down. The whole time I just glare at her. "You don't know what a wall socket is do you?"

I look down and mumble a "no". She still has traces of a smile on her face while she explains that it conducts electricity to 'charge' things like her laptop and phone, or power things like lamps. She explains that metal conducts electricity very well, and that I just got a jolt of electricity. I hope that this kind of stuff doesn't keep happening, I don't like not knowing what stuff is, and having Granger teach me does nothing to help my ego.

After she finishes explaining she just kind of stands there. I don't know why, but I suddenly say, "You can go now Granger. I don't need your mudblood filth contaminating my room." I can see an expression of hurt flit across her face, immediately followed by anger. Great now I've messed up everything again. Why couldn't I just keep my mouth shut? Stupid habits.

"Seriously? After I just helped you twice today? Fine, but that's the last time I satisfy your curiosity on muggle items. Don't think I can't see your expression of wonder when I explain things to you. You're like Mr. Weasley in terms of your curiosity, you just hide it because you're too afraid to let go of your muggle biases." With that she storms off to her room and slams her door shut. I sigh before getting up to shut my bathroom door as well.

I change into my pyjamas and crawl into bed, trying to decide what to make of what Granger said. Do I really have a fascination with muggle technology? Why am I so curious about it? After spending about half an hour just thinking, I give up and pull my guitar out of my suitcase. I put an undetectable extension charm at the bottom of the suitcase that lets me fit my guitar in its case underneath everything. That way I can avoid questions about it from my friends and family.

I pull it out and try to remember the tune of the song she played on the train earlier today. Before I start playing however, I make sure to cast a muffliato to prevent Granger from hearing it. I start slowly at first, but by the end of the song it feels like I've known this song since forever. When I'm done, I put down the guitar and go to bed. This time I fall asleep almost immediately.

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Author's Note: Please read and review. Feedback is always welcome. Thank you for reading, and have a nice week.


	8. Muggle Studies, a Quiz, & a Laptop

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise, nor anything affiliated with it.

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Hermione's POV

A week has passed since we got to school and both of us have managed to avoid each other as much as possible. For meals we sit on opposite ends of the table. For patrol, I take the shifts on odd days of the month like September 1, 3, 5, 7 etc., and Malfoy takes the shifts on even days of the month. Most of our classes are together, but we haven't been partnered for anything yet so it hasn't been a problem. Thankfully going to shower and using the bathroom hasn't been an issue as Malfoy prefers to shower in the morning and gets up at 6 am. I on the other hand, prefer to shower just before I go to bed and I wake up at 7:30am.

We are sitting in the Great Hall eating breakfast on the Monday of our second week back at school when the Headmistress gets up to make an announcement.

"Attention students, I have an announcement to make. A new decision was made at the end of last week with all the teachers. In order to promote house unity and to help deal with the discrimination against muggles, muggleborns, half-bloods, and even purebloods, it is now mandatory for all students to take muggle studies every year. It has been made the new compulsory course. Your timetables have been updated and if you have any questions you can ask your teachers or Head of House. That will be all." As soon as she finishes speaking, everyone pulls out their timetable to see what course was swapped out with Muggle Studies.

For me it's been switched in place of Study of Ancient Runes, which is okay as I already know most of the information that would have been taught this year. Many students start complaining about it and many muggleborns are confused as to why they have to take it seeing as how they've grown up with all of this stuff. My first class would have been Ancient Runes so I have Muggle Studies first period now. I finish eating and leave early to drop off my Ancient Runes textbook in my room as I don't need it anymore. When I eventually get to my class I see Malfoy is in my class as well. That leaves only 1 class we aren't in together now for this semester.

Professor Carrington, who is the newly appointed Muggle Studies professor, invites us all in and many of us sit in groups based on our houses. The classroom is filled with many different pieces of muggle tech including, but not limited to, a toaster, fridge, microwave, old desktop computer and monitor, laptops, a boombox, tv, a few landline phones, smart phones, game consoles, dishwashers, washing machines, dryers, irons, dvd and vcr players, and a smart board.

Instead of the usual chairs and desks that are standard in Hogwarts classes, we have the tables and plastic chairs that you would find in a muggle classroom. Professor Carrington is a female about 5'6", with blonde hair, and from Southern England. She tends to wear dark blue robes and has her hair in a bun tied with a light blue ribbon. She stands at the front of the classroom and claps to get everyone's attention.

"Hello, students? I know many of you are very confused about what is going on with this class so I'll explain everything now. Most of you are new to this class and hadn't planned on taking it so I'll review. My original class has already started some work, but since I knew there might have been some changes, it was just some get to know you activities and not much actual work."

"This class will be done in partner groups. A muggleborn will be partnered with a pureblood from a different house from your own, the muggleborn will act as a kind of tutor or point of reference and insight into the muggle world. For the half-bloods, you will be partnered with another half-blood, but depending on your understanding of each world, you will choose which one you want to study. Each class will have an "umbrella" topic, and you will conduct your own study of it. For example, if we were doing a unit on communication and the lesson was on sending longer messages, you might study how electronic mail works, or how owls understand your instructions and send your mail without getting lost."

"So now that that is out of the way, I will move on to the groupings. The groups will be permanent for the semester, and cannot be changed. Since I'm a new teacher, I have not made them very biased so if you hate your partner you'll have to learn how to deal with it."

"Neville Longbottom and Cho Chang"

"Pansy Parkinson and Ernie MacMillan"

"Padma Patil and Zacharias Smith"

"Michael Corner and Tracy Davis"

"Anthony Goldstein and Hannah Abbott"

"Terry Boot and Amalie Greengrass"

"Blaise Zabini and Justin Finch-Fletchley"

"Dean Thomas and Millicent Bulstrode"

"Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger"

Of course I was paired with ferret, I honestly should have seen it coming. The list from what I could tell was organised so each pairing listed pure-bloods first and then muggleborns. Based on that, I noticed that the Slytherin's actually weren't all purebloods and I found that extremely amusing. There were two half-blood pairings which were Dean's pair and Anthony's pair.

"All right, go sit with your partner now, and make sure that there are two pairings at a table."

I pick up my stuff and move to where Malfoy is sitting as I know he won't get up to move next to me. When I sit down, he doesn't even look up at me. He just continues writing something in a notebook. I lean over a little bit to get a glimpse of what he's writing and he immediately snaps the book shut. He glares at me and pulls out his textbook and folder for the class. I realize that he's had Muggle Studies from the beginning of 8th year. Wow, so his schedule actually didn't change.

"Alright we'll start simple today, I will pick up or point to an object in this room and ask a pureblood student to name it. You can ask for help from your muggleborn partner 1 time and that is it. Half-bloods will all be quizzed."

"The first student will be Malfoy, what it this?" She says pointing to something I can't quite see from where I'm sitting.

"Um, a laptop?"

"Yes Mr. Malfoy, well done." I feel kind of happy he got it right, and a sense of pride as I taught him what it was last week on the train.

"And this?"

"Earbuds."

"Correct." I'm actually kind of surprised that he's remembering the names as well as he is.

"And this?" She points at a wall socket, and I start to giggle. Malfoy kicks me under the table and I suppress an "ow". With a slight blush on his face he responds.

"A wall socket."

"Well done Malfoy, the rest of you will have to see if you can as well as him."

Two other purebloods get it all right, but the rest get 1, maybe 2 right answers. She then hands out a sheet with the names of different objects on the sheet. Next to it are some lines to write definitions on.

"For homework this week, I want you to look up these things on a laptop. Many of the muggleborns and half-bloods brought their own laptops or have had their parents send them by owl, but the purebloods can see me after class to either borrow one from the school or purchase one from us. Much of our homework this year will be completed through the laptops, so it is mandatory to have one, or at least access to one. That will be all for today, feel free to explore the stuff in the room."

Many of the purebloods line up to procure a laptop, but Malfoy stays behind. I turn to him and ask him why he isn't getting up.

"Well, many of them will take awhile to get it and I don't want to wait around for the next 20 minutes in line. I'll wait till most of them are done and then get it. Don't worry Granger, I won't be borrowing your filthy computer to finish my homework. Speaking of which, I'm gonna have to get you to show me how to "search" this information on the laptop." I find it funny how he didn't ask the last bit as a question, instead he took a more indirect route and turned it into a statement, or rather command, instead. I ignore the obvious disrespect he's showing me since I don't want to get in a fight with him again.

"Well, I can probably show you tonight after dinner. But just know that the more you insult me, the less I'm going to help you, even if I lose marks for not being at good 'tutor'." I reply.

"Fine. It's a deal then." By this point the line had almost completely cleared. Malfoy got up and went to get a laptop. When he came back I saw it was a simple Chromebook. I guess we'll be using Google apps this year.

Class gets dismissed shortly after, so I get up and head over to my next class.

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Author's Note: In case it wasn't clear, the muggleborns are Cho, Ernie, Zacharias, Tracy, Amalie, Justin, and of course Hermione. The pure bloods are Neville, Pansy, Padma, Michael, Terry, Blaise, and obviously Draco. The half-bloods as far as I know are Anthony, Hannah, Dean, Millicent. Please read and review, and thank you for reading. Have a wonderful week, till next time.


	9. Parchment, Flowers, & Granger's Hair

Draco's POV

I'm surprised at how easily Granger agreed to help me. I hate asking for help, but I promised my father that I would at least be somewhat civil. I look at the special bag that contains my new laptop, and a long cord that makes it work for a certain period of time. I think it's called a charger. As I'm a Malfoy, I bought it instead or borrowing it. When I looked at it earlier, I realized that it was smaller than Granger's, I wonder why. Guess I'll have to ask her later when we do our homework. I'm pulled out of my thoughts when I feel Blaise poke my shoulder.

"Dude, why are you spacing out so often? Has Granger put a spell on you? You've been ignoring us a lot lately."

"Granger hasn't done anything but annoy me as much as usual. I've just been bored in classes, I was here for a decent part of last year so I know most of the curriculum, but it would still be a good idea to actually pass the NEWTS."

"Fine, but I still think something's up with you. Anyway Slughorn just assigned us a potion to be completed in pairs, we're partners right?"

"Yeah yeah, sure. What potion?" But at that point Blaise had already left, a little faster than I expected, to tell Slughorn our partner groups and get ingredients. When he came back, I didn't even get a chance to ask him what it was again.

"Alright, first we need to drop in one Ashwinder egg, a handful of rose thorns, and refined peppermint oil." I quickly put them into the cauldron and wait for the next instruction.

"Next add in the moonstone and stir until steam starts to rise, it should rise in swirls." He says when I've finished everything he said earlier.

"Now we just have to put it into a container and hand it in to Slughorn. Just make sure it has a mother of pearl sheen to it." He tells me finally and I lean down to scoop out some of it and bottle it up.

"Why does it suddenly smell like parchment, flowers, and wait… is that Granger's hair?" I look at Blaise and see him dissolve into a fit of laughter.

"Oh that is too good!" He exclaims. I just look at him impatiently.

"What's so funny Zabini? What's the potion called?"

"You weren't paying attention in class, and I didn't believe your earlier answer about why you were distracted so I didn't tell you the name of the potion so I could test you and have unbiased results."

"What is it, just spit it out!" I yell at him. A couple students glance in our direction before I glare at them and they turn back quickly to their work.

"It's Amortentia! I can't figure out what's more funny, that you like flowers or that you like Granger." He goes straight back to laughing and I just turn a bit red.

I feel shocked at how much of myself I've just given away to Blaise. He may be my best friend from Slytherin, but I don't trust any of my friends. I don't exactly want any of this information, both about the flowers and any rumours about my non-existent feelings for Granger, getting around for the whole school to hear.

"Not a word to anyone else, especially Granger and the rest of my friends, or I swear I will hex you into oblivion!" I say as I pull my wand out and press it into his side.

"Nah man don't worry, I wouldn't do that to you, but that is too precious!" He says while trying to control his laughter and finally calming down a bit by the look on his face, I can tell he's serious, but I'm still in shock about this discovery.

Blaise and I hand the potion in to Slughorn, then go back and just wait till class is over. I spend the whole time thinking about whether or not I truly like Granger. I eventually pull out my journal and start a list of things I like and dislike about her.

Dislike

She's a know-it-all

She's stubborn

She doesn't back down

She's punched me in the face

She knows more about muggles and wizards than me

She laughed at me when I touched the wall socket

Everyone likes her

Like

She loves books

She's smart

She stands up for her beliefs

She's fearless

She doesn't judge you unless you should be

She taught me muggle stuff without expecting anything back0

Everyone likes her

My list is interrupted when Slughorn dismisses us for lunch. I quickly close my book and gather my stuff. As I'm leaving the class I see Granger staring at her potion with a confused and thoughtful expression on her face.

"Hey Granger, why do you look so confused?"

"Huh, what? Nothing! I wasn't thinking about you. Damn it, Hermione, why did you say that!" Then she runs off, out of the class, her cheeks a bright red.

Hmm, Granger sure was skittish, and she seemed embarrassed about something. After that, I make my way to the Head's common room to put my books down before going to the Great Hall for lunch. When I get to the common room, I make sure that my journal is sealed and that the charm I put on it that prevents anyone but me from seeing what's inside still works.

I leave to go to the Great Hall and bump into Hermione outside the portrait hole.

"Oh sorry!" she squeaks, and for the first time in my life I take a good look at her. I take in the way her curly hair frizzes after potions, the way her eyes have such a fluid and mesmerizing brown colour with huge pupils, the way she looks so cute when she's flustered. Dammit, I think Blaise may be on to something. No, that's just the power of suggestion, it's not real, it's just an illusion.

"Um Malfoy, why are you staring at me like that?" I snap out of my daze and blink.

"Sorry, it's just your hair's in your face. Uh, bye." And then I run away while blushing furiously, leaving a very confused Hermione standing at the portrait hole.

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Author's Note: Please read and review, feedback and comments are most welcome. Have a great week!


	10. A Window Seat, Emails, & Definitions

Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter franchise, nor anything affiliated with it.

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Hermione's POV

I'm left standing at the Portrait hole, watching as Draco runs off, feeling very confused inside. Instead of eating in the Great Hall with my classmates, I had grabbed a sandwich and and wrapped it in a napkin so I could eat in my room. However I bumped into Malfoy and now I'm here.

I slowly walk into our dorm through the portrait hole and sit on the window seat in the common area. I finish my lunch and think about what I smelled in that potion. I knew the potion was Amortentia, but I didn't think too much about it. Then when Neville and I finished making it, I was overwhelmed by the smell of parchment, my mother's perfume, and to my surprise, Malfoy's hair. I was so shocked, I didn't say anything to anyone, but when Malfoy asked why I was confused I went completely defensive.

Then when I bumped into him outside the portrait, he just stared at me for a good minute or so. It was really weird, it was as if it was the first time he had really seen me as a real person. I wonder, does he like me? Am I just imagining things? Should I say something or just leave it? I think the potion is just addleing my brain. I'm in the middle of these thoughts when I feel my phone start buzzing. I pull it out of pocket and see that it's just an alarm saying that there is only 10 minutes left of lunch break. I gather my books for the afternoon, and leave for my next class.

* * *

I go down to the Great Hall for dinner and I eat some shepherd's pie and a selection of fruits. After eating quickly, I go upstairs to my dorm so that I can get a bit of my homework done before Malfoy comes up. I get to the portrait and go inside. I grab my laptop, earbuds, and my homework. I sit on the couch and play music from my laptop as I start on an essay for potions. I'm about halfway done when Malfoy walks in.

"Granger, I just need to grab my laptop and then we can start." He says, then he runs up the stairs to his room and comes down a few moments after.

"Alright, let's try to keep this as short as possible so we can get on to the rest of our homework. First let's set up the computer. Open the laptop and rest it on your knees. Yes, like that. Now you don't have proper laptop as they are very expensive, you have a chromebook which means you just use online stuff. The name of the program is called Chrome." I see that he looks a little confused, but I keep moving on anyway.

"Okay see the little thing in the corner that says 'add person'? Click that by dragging your finger on the silver bit in the middle of the bottom part of your laptop. That is called a trackpad, and will move the little triangular icon on screen. You will be asked for an email which we will set up first on my computer. I'll put your name in for you, what do you want your email to be? You have to choose the beginning and then it will end in '@gmail.com '. For example, mine is hermione.granger@gmail.com. You can make it as creative as you want."

"Um, how about draco.malfoy.sg@gmail.com?" I wonder what the sg stands for or if it even has any meaning.

"Yeah sure. Next you need to pick a password. I'll let you do it yourself, as it prevents other people from accessing your account. Just click here and press the keys for each letter or number. If you want the little symbols above the numbers, hold the 'shift' button at the same time you press that key. Using numbers, letters, and symbols is best as it's harder for people to guess it. Then type the same password in the box underneath it." I look away as he does the password. When he's done he tells me and hands me back my laptop.

"Now, I need your birthday."

"June 5, 1980"

"Okay, and you are male, and we are in the United Kingdom. Done! Now type your email into the box on your computer."

"Alright, done."

"Now it should ask for your password. Just type it in."

"I've done that, now it's taken me to a page and it's asking if I want a tour. Should I click yes?"

"No, that's not necessary. I can show you how to change your profile picture and wallpaper another time. For now, hit the little circle icon with the blue circle in the middle and red, yellow, and green around it. That is the Chrome icon. The one beside it is for your email, then google documents, and YouTube. I'll explain those in a bit. You should have a screen that says Google and a long rectangle box under it. That is called the search bar. The other place you can use to search stuff is the really long one at the top of the page. That is the URL box. If you type a website address, it will take you directly to it. For example type: drive. google. com, then hit enter. You are now on Google Drive. You can create a writing document, make graphs and tables, and make an online presentation with images and words."

"Perhaps we should actually look up what these things on my list are before you get side-tracked again?"

"Oh right, sorry. What was the first thing on your list?"

"Airplane."

"Okay, for all these items, search 'what is the definition of a…?'. In this case it would be 'what is the definition of an airplane?'. Then it will show you a list of different links in blue colour. Click the link and it will take you to a website and you should be able to find a definition in there. Got it?"

"Yeah, thanks Granger, I can take it from here."

"Okay, in that case Malfoy, I'm going to go shower now as you'll be occupied down here for the next while."

I go upstairs and take a quick shower, before getting out and quickly tying my hair in a rough bun so it doesn't drip down my back while I'm doing homework. I go downstairs and see Malfoy is really engrossed in his work, but he's only written down 2 of the 20 definitions.

"Malfoy, are you having trouble with the definitions?" I ask him. I've been gone for at least 15, maybe 20 minutes so he should be almost done.

"No, I'm just learning so much about each thing. There's so much you can learn here! I've started using this website called Wikipedia, and it leads from one topic to another so easily! Unfortunately I don't know how to go back to the page I was previously on so I just keep going deeper into a topic."

"Oh right! I didn't tell you how to go back! Okay, do you see the little arrow pointing to the left in the top left corner? Clicking that will take you to where you just were. If you hit the one next to it pointing to the right, it will take you back to the one you were one before you went backwards. If you want to open something on a separate page, click it with both fingers on the trackpad, and a list will appear. Click the one called 'open link in new tab'. Make sure it's tab, not window. If you want to open a tab and search something new, see the small parallelogram next to the long trapezoid at the top of the screen? Hit that. The trapezoid is the name of the tab. If you click it, it will take you to the open tab."

"Okay Granger, I don't need anymore help."

"Okay then. I'll be over here on the other couch if you do need more help." I say. I don't quite think that he won't need help.

Malfoy doesn't ask for anymore help, and finishes the sheet after about an hour or so. I finish my essay and edit it before checking my email on my laptop, and then going upstairs to bed.

"Malfoy, I'm going to bed now, if you need anymore help, I'll have to show you tomorrow morning."

I go upstairs and brush my teeth before changing into my pyjamas and settling down and playing my music quietly. I fall asleep quickly, feeling content with how I helped Malfoy, and hoping it would always be like this.

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Author's Note: Draco's birthday is actually correct. Check if you don't believe me. Please read and review, feedback and comments are always welcome. Thanks, and see you next time!


	11. Planning, a Letter, & Dinner

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise, nor anything affiliated with it.

* * *

Draco's POV

A couple weeks have gone by since Granger showed me how to use the computer and I've had a lot of fun learning about muggle technology. I haven't told Blaise how much I love it or Granger, but I can tell she knows how much I enjoy it, most people haven't picked up on it. I've done very well on the tests we've gotten and it actually my best subject so far, it feels so weird.

So far, we've all gotten earbuds and phones, and we just finished our unit on communication. I can now call, email, and text pretty well, though I prefer email as it is more formal. We will be starting a unit on entertainment soon and the muggleborns have each selected a film or series to watch during class to help catch us up with pop-culture. After we finish movies and television, we will explore music, which I can't wait to do. I've wanted to explore that since Granger first let me listen to Let Her Go by Passenger on the the train ride here.

Granger and I have talked a little bit more, and we don't seem to hate each other as much. After giving it a lot of thought, I decided that just because I smelled Granger in the potion, doesn't mean we should be 'love birds'. Instead I've been nicer and I'll see how it goes from there. The relationship is less tense, and seeing as how she doesn't have many friends in her year, she'll sit with me and Blaise. Blaise isn't too 'Slytherin' as she says, so she doesn't mind him that much.

Granger and I are walking back from class to drop our books off in our room before going to the Great Hall for dinner when we see McGonagall waiting for us at the portrait.

"Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy, I'm sure you know we are already a week into October. I will need you two to plan the Halloween ball. You will be in charge of invitations and announcements, decorations and dining equipment, seating placement, theme, entertainment, setting up with the help of the prefects, and food. Essentially, everything. I'll need a rough plan with basic information by next week today. A final plan should be given to me no later than 5 days before the 31st. That will be all for that. How have you two been? I've noticed you've been getting along a bit more than you thought you would. If it's just acting, you are doing a marvellous job."

Granger speaks up first, "We've been doing great Headmistress. How have you been?"

"I've been well, thank you Ms. Granger. Well, seeing as how that's settled, I have to go for a staff meeting. This is a written list of all the requirements in case you can't remember all of them. Good evening to you." With that, she leaves me and Granger waiting to go inside.

I go first as Granger seems deep in thought. I open the portrait with the password that we still haven't changed, no matter how many times I've tried remind myself to talk to Granger about it. We get in and I ask Granger what we should do next.

"Well, we should probably get dinner from the Hall and bring it up here to eat. That way we can start to plan this now."

"Okay. Should we use create a google doc for this?" I really like using google drive as it saves the information by itself and multiple people can edit the same document at the same time.

"Yeah, how about I set up the document and a spreadsheet, while you go grab us some food. I'll take whatever you're having."

"Sure, I should be up in about 10 or 15 minutes." Then I leave to get the food. For dinner today, it's pasta bake with tuna and salad. I grab a moderately sized portion for both of us and piece of black forest cake each. I walk upstairs and bump into Blaise.

"Ooh, you going for a date with Granger?" He says when he notices the plates in my hand while wiggling his eyebrows in a teasing way.

"No, Blaise, I'm not." I say, slightly exasperated with him. "McGonagall asked us to start preparing for the Halloween ball, and seeing as how we don't have a lot of homework right now, we decided to start working on it."

"Sure sure Draco, one of these days I'll be right. Just remember that I'm sacrificing my meal buddies for you two."

"Goodbye Zabini."

I carry on up to our our room and say the password. I walk in and put the food on the counter. Granger is sitting on the couch too engrossed in a piece of paper that she's holding to realize that I've come in. She's staring at it with slight anger and seems kind of tense.

"Granger... helloooo. Aren't you gonna come over and eat?" When she doesn't look up I ask her about the paper. "What are you looking at?"

"Oh. Well Harry finally sent me a letter asking how I was, and that Ron is still being a selfish prat…"

"A selfish prat? I thought that name was reserved for me." I say with a smile.

"No, don't get me started on Ron, he's been acting like a complete idiot since the war ended. He thinks he's so high and mighty, and that all purebloods should be sent to Azkaban. Basically he's turned into you, but with intolerance for purebloods instead of muggles and muggleborns. I can't stand it. You don't fight discrimination with more discrimination, you fight it with equality." She sounds very frustrated, so I go over and pull her to the food.

"Come on, you need to eat." I say. "I can't stand to hear you compare me to Weaselbee. I'd rather be compared to Scar-Head."

"Sorry. He's just really bugging me right now. He still thinks he'll be able to fudge over our last 'meeting' and be my friend. I swear I'll hex him the next time I see him." I resist the urge to ask what happened at their last meeting. Instead I focus on her last remark.

"Great, I hope I get to see it. Now eat your food before it goes cold so we can start to work on planning this ball." She then starts eating and we have our meal in silence. I finish my food before her, so I go up to my room and get my laptop before coming back down again.

"So let's start with basics what's the theme going to be?" I ask her when I come down.

"Um, how about autumn vs. costumes? Many of the younger kids and some older kids like dressing up in costumes, while some of the older girls especially, might want to wear a proper dress. We can have a competition to see which category has the most people dressing in it."

"Yeah, that's a great idea. What about time? I think that we shouldn't make it too late as we'll have school the day after. Do you think 7-12 would be good?"

"I think that works, but we should end classes about an hour earlier then. Just take off 15 minutes from each class." I'm glad Granger thought of that; it would help a lot, and it wouldn't interfere too much with our schedule.

"Okay, should we go with a set menu or buffet style?"

"Buffet style, but we should talk with the house elves about it. I know some of them, I could get them to create sample dishes so we can taste them and see if they'll work." Of course she knows some of them, I'm surprised that they actually like her. Most of the house elves I know would be extremely offended if you offered to free them.

"For the ball itself, what kind of decor do you think we should have?"

"I was thinking that we should have a colour scheme of Registration Black, Zinnwaldite Brown, Safety Orange (Blaze Orange), Chocolate (Traditional), and Ginger." I raise my eyebrows at her very specific colour choices. "Here I just searched this site called 'Coolors' that generates colour schemes." She turns the screen of her laptop to face me and I take a look at the colour myself.

"Wow, they work really well with each other. I think that we should have the tablecloths, napkins, plates, centerpieces, fabric hangings, and chairs in this colour scheme. That way it looks relatively uniform. If you could send that to me, I know a couple purebloods who owe me favours that could get us those supplies at a discount in the specified colours." I say.

"Thanks Malfoy, that could save us a lot of money. Now we still need to sort out posters or invitations, and announcements. We need to get the word out soon. A lot of the students will want time to get costumes, or formal wear." I nod at her and jot down the information.

"I think we should call it quits for tonight, we have a rough guideline and some ideas. Let's set aside about 2 hours every Saturday and 1 hour every Wednesday night to work on this from now till then. That way we can still do homework, and get this done."

"Sure, I'll just put a reminder in my phone then." She replies. She then gets up from the counter in our kitchenette and starts to put whatever papers she scribbled on into a folder. "I'll type this up tonight okay? It should be done in a few hours."

"Okay, I'm gonna go and take the dishes down to the kitchens now. You should probably reply to Potter now."

"Oh right! I better do that soon before he worries that you've killed me quietly in the last two months."

"Right, because no one would have figured it out and notified your best friends about it." I say while smirking at her.

"Ha ha ha, Harry and… Ron," she spits "are so paranoid. They think I can't deal with anything. It's extremely annoying since I've saved them more times than I can count." Yes, I know she has. Even while we were still at Hogwarts, half of their schemes would never have worked without her.

"Anyway, I have to go drop off these dishes before the house elves send a search party for them." I say.

"Oh yeah, well I'll see you soon then."

"Bye." I say before gathering the dishes. Then I leave towards the kitchens.

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Author's Note: The website mentioned is real, and the exact colour codes following the previously stated sequence are #010001, #2B0504, #FF6E00, #874000, and #BC5F04 in case anyone wanted to see what they actually look like. Please read and review, thanks for sticking with this fic. Till next time and have a nice week.


	12. Hogsmeade, Watches, & a Movie

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**Chapter 12: Hogsmeade, Watches, & a Movie**

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Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise, nor anything else affiliated with it. I also do not own any songs used in this fic, all rights to those songs belong to the artists, go support their work on Youtube, Spotify, or other music platforms.

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Hermione's POV

It's about 1 week till the Halloween ball, and Malfoy and I have kind of become friends. Muggle studies has been a lot of fun. I must say that the teachers really did a good job on making it mandatory. The tension between the different house and 'blood types' has lessened a lot. Then there are our meetings to plan the ball. We've learned a lot about each other, and true to McGonagall's word, we do share a lot of interests.

He actually really enjoys reading. It's funny, we make a lot of recommendations to each other now. He's also taken a liking to YouTube. He spent hours exploring different popular artists as part of Muggle Studies, and now has an ever growing playlist of music. We have a similar taste in music, and so we've shared our playlists with each other. One song I've found that I really like is Everything Has Changed by Taylor Swift Ft. Ed Sheeran. I find that it is slowly describing the relationship between myself and Malfoy more and more each day. I'm sitting doing my homework when the song comes on.

_All I knew this morning when I woke_  
_Is I know something now, know something now I didn't before_  
_And all I've seen since eighteen hours ago is green eyes and freckles  
_ _And your smile in the back of my mind making me feel like_

_I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now_  
_I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now_  
_I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now  
_ _I just want to know you, know you, know you_

A couple days after our first 'meeting' about the ball, we finished the first draft of the plan and handed it in to McGonagall. She seemed very pleased it and thought our theme idea was a good idea.

"Some friendly competition is very good, especially since it's not connected to any of the houses in particular."

What she said is very true. The main issue with the competition in Hogwarts, is that it's so house based. It feels like war as supposed to friendly competition. Especially since there are a lot of stereotypes associated with each house, we are constantly belittling the others and trying to destroy everyone who isn't in our house.

I could tell that Draco agreed on this too based on the slight nod of his head. I'd noticed that Draco actually has a lot of meaning hidden behind his mannerisms. Little things like the way he tilts his head when someone he knows or respects walks past him. Many people don't notice him do it, but it's still there. There's the way he addresses people in certain ways; he calls most people by their last names, he calls Blaise by his first name except when he's annoyed with him, and he calls me Granger like always, but there is something else behind it. When he says my name now, it doesn't come out with undertones of hate, and it feels wonderful.

_'Cause all I know is we said hello_  
_And your eyes look like coming home_  
_All I know is a simple name, everything has changed_  
_All I know is you held the door_  
_You'll be mine and I'll be yours  
_ _All I know since yesterday is everything has changed_

_And all my walls stood tall painted blue_  
_But I'll take 'em down, take 'em down and open up the door for you_  
_And all I feel in my stomach is butterflies the beautiful kind  
_ _Making up for lost time, taking flight, making me feel like_

Just last week, we had our first Hogsmeade trip. I went with Draco and Blaise in the morning, and then met up with Ginny in the afternoon. Draco, Blaise, and I went to the new tech shop in Hogsmeade, so that I could help them look for their own phones and other bits and bobs.

While we got their phones, I made sure they got their own earbuds as Draco had been borrowing my spare pair for the last while. I also got them USB each to store copies of their files, and fitness tracking watches. Blaise had been very interested in the watches, as a group of enterprising wizards had managed to make one that could track the distance flown and as well as the energy used on a broomstick.

We had lunch in the Three Broomsticks and then I left them to go browse a bit more while I left to go dress shopping with Ginny.

_I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now_  
_I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now_  
_I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now  
_ _I just want to know you, know you, know you_

_'Cause all I know is we said hello_  
_And your eyes look like coming home_  
_All I know is a simple name, everything has changed_  
_All I know is you held the door_  
_You'll be mine and I'll be yours  
_ _All I know since yesterday is everything has changed_

The night of the Hogsmeade trip, Draco, Blaise, and I went to the Head's dorm to watch a movie together. We picked an action film called The Avengers. Draco and Blaise were so impressed with the special effects and the superheroes. Draco in particular liked Loki and Black Widow. When I asked him why, he said it was because they reminded him so much of himself.

_Come back and tell me why_  
_I'm feeling like I've missed you all this time_  
_And meet me there tonight_  
_And let me know that it's not all in my mind_  


_I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now_  
_I just want to know you, know you, know you_  


I found it so sad at first, but then I realized that those characters are so much stronger because of their mistakes, not so much Loki, but Black Widow changed and turned all the way around. I knew at that moment that Draco had changed, and is continuing to change into someone wonderful.

_All I know is we said hello_  
_Your eyes look like coming home_  
_All I know is a simple name, everything has changed_  
_All I know is he held the door_  
_You'll be mine and I'll be yours  
_ _All I know since yesterday is everything has changed_

_All I know is we said hello_  
_So dust off your highest hopes_  
_All I know is pouring rain  
_ _And everything has changed_

_All I know is a new found grace_  
_All my days, I'll know your face  
_ _All I know since yesterday is everything has changed_

"Granger, it's getting late. You should probably go to bed soon. Remember we have to do the meeting with the rest of the prefects tomorrow morning, and I expect you to be awake to present your bit. No slacking off." Malfoy had just come down the stairs in his pyjamas, and I look at the clock on my computer to see it's almost 12:30.

"Noted Malfoy, I'll go to bed soon. I just need to finish the last paragraph of my essay."

"Fine, but I'm not waking you up tomorrow. Goodnight." He calls. With that he walks back upstairs.

"Goodnight Ferret." I call out teasingly. I swear I can hear a grunt of annoyance come from the stairs, but maybe I just imagined it.

I finish my essay, pack up my stuff, and head to my room. I put my homework into my folder, and get changed for bed.

I feel so happy, calm, and tired, I don't even have to put on a playlist. I just lie down and drift off to sleep.

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Author's Note: This chapter is a little more of a "flashback" chapter, but oh well. Thanks for all of your support. Please read and review. Have a great week, till next time.


	13. A Meeting, New Friends, & First Names

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise, nor anything affiliated with it

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Draco's POV

I'm sitting in the Room of Requirement with Granger, and about 15 of the prefects are here already. There should be 26 total as there are 2 per house per year starting with 5th, except for the eighth years who just have two total. We decided to do the meeting here as the Room can conjure samples of the decorations that we will be using, and space won't be an issue. After waiting an additional 20 minutes, everyone arrives and we start. I start with the basics first.

"Alright, so as prefects, you will be responsible for the set-up and cleanup of the ball. It won't be too complicated so don't worry about whether or not you'll have enough time to get ready."

"Malfoy's right. We are getting the decorations and equipment custom made, so we just need to stick them up with spells. It shouldn't be too hard to do."

"Now the point of this meeting is just to finalize stuff with you and make sure everyone knows what's going on and what you need to do. The theme is Costumes vs. Formal Attire. The group that wins, that theme will be used the next year. The colour scheme is this." I pull out a strip of fabric with all the colours Granger and I discussed. "The food will be done buffet style, and mostly finger food. We've gotten the Weird Sisters to play music for the first half and the end, but in the middle we will be doing a karaoke thing for anyone is interested. The top 5 performers or groups will win 20 points each for their houses." I say with a bit of a smile. I thought of that prize after Hermione and I had spent almost a week trying to find a good prize that most people would be interested in.

"Yes, we decided that most people don't like to go up and perform, but a lot of students are highly competitive about points, so more people will try to go up. Now I'll talk about delegation of tasks. Since there are a total of 28 of us, I'm putting all 5th and 6th years on setting tables. It's very tedious, but important. 7th and 8th years, as well as Malfoy and I will be doing the actual hall decorations. We will meet just after lunch to set up. We should finish about 4 hours before the ball starts. The ball is from 7-12 in the evening, and seeing as how there are classes the day after, we will have an hour late school start. Classes will each be 15 minutes shorter." Hermione finishes. It will always amaze me that women require 4 hours or more to get ready for a simple dance. After Hermione finishes with her part, I conclude the meeting.

"I think that's it. Are there any questions?" No one speaks up or raises their hands. "Alright then, you're dismissed."

Once we finish the meeting, Granger and I head back to our dorm to finish some last-minute preparations. We sit at the counter and write letters to our suppliers to make sure that our orders will come on time. After double checking that everything is set up, we head down to the Great Hall for dinner. We've now started sitting together with Blaise and sometimes Neville. Since Hermione has started becoming friends with me, Neville and Ginny have been more accepting of us. We sit and talk about the crazy shenanigans we got up to in our first few years here, and how Granger punched me in the nose in third year. We all laugh at that, Blaise thought it was really funny at the time. Granger apologizes about it, and I tell her it's okay.

"Look Granger, I completely deserved it. I remember being so embarrassed about it though. I didn't even go to Madam Pomfrey to get it checked out as I was too ashamed to admit that I got punched by a 'Mudblood' Gryffindor know-it-all."

"That was stupid Malfoy, you officially win at being a complete moron." She says. She finds it extremely funny and I can see her trying not to laugh for the whole school to hear.

"Yes well, I found that to be a turning point in how I looked at you. I still treated you like garbage, but I was doing that to keep up appearances, and because I refused to believe that a muggle born girl could be so much better than me at everything. I also tried to tone down how much I antagonized you because I really did not want to provoke another hit to the face. It became my life goal to be better than you at everything. Haven't reached it yet, and probably never will." I say.

"That much is obvious to everyone, including me." Says Neville. I laugh at his comment and agree with him. Neville isn't exactly the sharpest knife on the chopping block.

I find it amazing that I can talk to Hermione and other people who aren't in Slytherin with such ease. For the first time, I have friends. Real friends. Not just one friend, but two; Granger and Blaise. Neville isn't quite my friend but he's more than just an acquaintance.

We finish up with dinner, and Neville and Blaise leave to their dorms. Granger and I leave together to our dorm. We head inside and both set up for homework. I pull out my laptop and turn on some music. It feels really nice to have my own earbuds, and I'm glad Granger helped get some new tech on our last trip to Hogsmeade. I go to YouTube, and put on Granger's playlist. It's strange, I feel happy just knowing that this is what she uses and that she picked the music for it. You can tell a lot about a person based on their music choices. I know that Granger really likes to pick songs based on lyrics, and listening to the music makes me feel close to her thoughts, like I can understand her better with it. One thing I've noticed is that she has a lot sad music on it. I guess she must have some really sad memories. I wonder if Weasel has anything to do with it.

Once I've started the playlist, I pull up my e-mail to check if Professor Carrington has posted any homework for us on our online classroom. I see that she's put up an end of unit project to choose one song and one movie/tv show to write an essay on each. We are supposed to explain why we like it, and how we might identify with. The essays will be completely confidential, and she will not share anything in them with anyone else. The project is due in about 3 weeks to allow time to explore more media and really get in depth. I create a doc to come up with a list of music and movies that I might want to use for this project. Most of the songs are from my playlist and by extension, Granger's. After finishing that, I move on to my potions, and transfiguration assignments.

It's almost 11pm when I stop. I turn to Granger and tell her that it's getting late.

"I'm almost done Malfoy."

"I know, that's what you say every time. Yet you still bang away on the keyboard for an additional 20 minutes after I tell you without fail."

"Fine I'll stop, but if I fail these assignments, it's on your head."

"By all means Granger, if it means you get some sleep." As I say this, she looks at me weirdly. "What is it Granger? Did I say something funny?"

"No, I've just been thinking, maybe we should switch to a first name basis. I think that we've become too friendly to keep acting like we're enemies. I mean our actions don't say it, so why should we speak like it?"

"That's a great idea Gr… I mean Hermione. Wow that felt weird."

"It also sounded weird to hear you say my first name, but it shouldn't be like that. If we use them often enough it'll become natural... Draco."

"Well this another thing to add to our growing list of friendship developments." Maybe it'll someday lead to relationship developments. However, I just leave it for now. Careful not to push it too far. I'm glad Hermione suggested using first names. It feels nicer in a way, though our classmates may look at us a little weirdly if they hear us talking like this.

"Goodnight Draco." Hermione says as she gathers her stuff and we walk up the stairs to our rooms.

"Goodnight Hermione." I say as she enters her room, and she looks back to smile before closing her door.

I enter my room and feel so peaceful. I don't have any trouble falling asleep tonight, and I let my dreams consume me.

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Author's Note: Please read and review. I truly appreciate your support. Thanks for reading, have a great week. Till next time.


	14. A Necklace, A Charm, & 3 Letters

Hermione's POV

I'm in the Great Hall eating my breakfast with Blaise, Draco, and Neville when I get a letter from Harry.

_Dear Hermione,_

_I know it's been awhile since my last letter, sorry it's taken so long. Ron and I have been really busy with Auror training. I heard from Ginny that you, Blaise, Neville, and Draco are hanging out a lot now. Be careful around the Slytherins, I don't entirely trust them. I do however, trust your judgement so I won't be coming over there with wands blazing ready to hex them into oblivion. Just know that if you do happen to need me though, I'll be ready. Now, I haven't told Ron about this yet, and you can guess why. He still hasn't even bothered trying to change his mindset. It's getting really irritating listening to his poisonous words about the purebloods, and how they're all Death Eaters. It's a little stupid because his own family is pureblood as well but as he says, "we're different though, we're blood traitors so we don't really count."_

_Anyway, I've sent you this letter because I've requested some vacation time for next weekend to coincide with your trip to Hogsmeade. I'd like to meet up with you, Ginny, and all your friends. I haven't told Ron, and hopefully he doesn't find out. As much as he's my friend, he's not ready for a meeting like this yet. Well I have to go study for my next set of Auror practical exams now, so see you then! Have a great time during the Halloween ball, I'm sure your planning will go smoothly._

_Till next weekend,_

_Harry_

I put down the letter and make a mental note to reply before lunch. All the students have the morning off to get ready for the ball, but I'll be spending it doing last minute counts of everything before we actually set up after lunch. I personally don't see why we need that much time, but some people like to get their hair done, and get makeovers.

I finish my meal and signal for Draco to hurry up so we can go over details one more time. We leave the Great Hall and make our way to the portrait. We get inside and I grab my folders with all the table plans, food plans, rough performance and karaoke schedule, and decoration plans. I come down and see Draco at the counter waiting with a small dark blue box.

"Draco, what's that?" I say pointing to the box while feeling a bit nervous. Why I don't know, but it's just a gut reaction to the situation I guess.

He laughs at my question and responds, "Hermione, I know this is really late and all, but do you want to go to the dance with me?"

"Oh Draco, that's so sweet! I'd love to." I say with a smile.

"I got you a gift for the dance. You can also consider it a really late birthday present." At that he pulls out a thin silver necklace with a blue spherical pendant that glowed in the relatively dim light of our kitchenette.

"Oh my gosh! Where did you get this? This is so pretty." I say.

"May I put it on for you?" He asks.

I say yes and turn around for him to clasp it around my neck. He lifts my hair up gently and puts it over my right shoulder. Then he pulls it around my neck and clasps it. I turn around to look at him and give him a huge tight hug.

"Thank you so much. How did you know when my birthday was?"

"I remember hearing Ginny talking about it with Neville a couple weeks back. She said she was so upset that neither Harry nor Ron sent you anything for it. To answer your earlier question on how I got it, I was exploring some muggle shopping websites and found this on a site called Etsy. I didn't give it to you before as it took a couple weeks to arrive, and I had to have it delivered to the Manor, and then get my mother to send it over to me by owl."

"Wow, thanks again." I pause. "Well um, we should probably do a quick review of the plans for the ball."

"Right. What's the rough number of students who are confirmed to attend?" he asks me.

"About 280. Let's leave enough room for an additional 20 people. That takes us up to 300 people. The tables should have about 12 seats, so we need about 25 tables. Then we also need the food tables, the stage for the Weird Sisters and the karaoke, and we have to make sure we have enough space on the dance floor."

"Well, we can always expand the hall with an undetectable extension charm. We just have to ask McGonagall for permission. It'll give us the extra space we need."

"That's a great idea, I can't believe I didn't think of that. I'll send an Owl to her as soon as possible. I think that's all we need to review. You can go do whatever you want till lunch. I have to take care of some letters."

"Alright, if you need any help with anything I'll be in my room." Then he walked up the stairs to do whatever it was that he was going to do.

I gather the papers and go to my room. I put the folder in my filing cabinet that I had transfigured from a briefcase. I pull out my stack of parchment and a black pen.

Dear Headmistress McGonagall,

Draco and I have realized that the hall isn't quite big enough to hold everyone and everything needed. We were wondering if we could have your permission to use an undetectable extension charm on the hall so that there will be more space. Please respond at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely, Hermione Granger

I finish the letter, seal in an envelope, and set it aside to take to the owlery later with my letters to Harry and Ron. I pull out another piece of parchment and start my second letter.

_Dear Harry,_

_I'm sorry I didn't respond to your first letter. I just got so upset about Ron being such a git, and then I got too distracted with all the preparation for the ball._

_To answer your question, I am making friends with Blaise and Draco. I know they are Slytherins, but I've found that they are actually a lot of fun and quite nice. I know it seems so sudden of a change, but McGonagall and the teachers implemented a new policy to bring the houses together. I think it's actually worked really well. Muggle studies is now mandatory, and muggle borns basically tutor purebloods. We each have a partner for the semester and my partner is Draco. I've learnt a lot about him, and he's learnt a lot about me. It turns out he finds the muggle world as fascinating as you and I find the wizarding world. Blaise, Draco, Neville, Luna, sometimes Ginny, Draco, and I have been hanging out together. We've done movie nights in the head's common room, and gone to Hogsmeade together. It's been a lot of fun but I have missed you, and even Ron a little bit, here. I wish we could have all come back together._

_Meeting up next weekend is a great idea, and yes, bringing Ron the first time may not be the best idea. Maybe if he calms down with his raving we can consider it. I'll be sending a letter to him as well and see if I can change his mind. It's really sad actually, that he's like this. He's missing out on so much of life. Well, I have to finish this quickly so I can get back to prepping for the ball. I miss you so much, see you next week._

_Sincerely, Hermione_

Sealing my letter the same way I did McGonagall's, I set it aside. Now for the more challenging letter. I take a deep breath and pour a bit of my heart into it.

_Dear Ron,_

_I know it's been awhile since we last spoke. Despite what I've said, I do hope you're okay. I wanted to let you know that I'm still your friend, but that your biases really upset me._

_Pure Bloods, half-bloods, muggles, we're all human and I hope you know that. Your current mindset really upsets me because it's exactly the same as how the Death Eaters used to think. You've just flipped the tables on them. I really hope you realize how you messed up, and I hope that one day I'll get an apology. I'll wait for it, because I miss being your friend._

_Sincerely, Hermione_

I feel like there's no other way for him to understand. I don't know how he can think like that. I guess he'll change when he wants to.

I finish all the letters and gather them together. I exit my room and walk to the owlery to send the letters off. I send them on their way, and head back down. It's about 20 minutes till lunch, and then we have to prepare for the ball. I walk to the Great Hall early, and wait till more people arrive. I finish my food quickly and so does Draco. We walk back to our room and gather the decorations and other equipment we need. McGonagall approved of the use of the extension charm so we go down to the Great Hall again as people are leaving. We put down the materials and wait for the prefects to arrive.

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Author's Note: The necklace does exist as do many other cool jewelry and bookmark pieces from the same artist. You can fin her work on Etsy, under the account of Pappillon9. Her work is really beautiful! There are also a lot of other artists there who have great work so check them out as well. Please read and review, and thank you to those who have, your continuous support means a lot to me. Have a great week, till next time!


	15. Set up, Sunset, & a Song

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Harry Potter franchise, nor anything else affiliated with it. I also do not own any songs used in this fic, all rights to those songs belong to the artists, go support their work on Youtube, Spotify, or other music platforms.

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Draco's POV

When the prefects arrive, we review their tasks with them and perform the extension charm together. Then we give them the bags of napkins, plates, cutlery, glasses, centerpieces, tablecloths, and the floorplan. Hermione and I get to work on hanging the fabric drapes on the wall in place of the house banners. We stick them on with sticking charms, and fold the banners neatly and put it in a crate.

Then we get to work setting up the stage with all the decorations, and make sure to leave enough space for them to play. We also charm a small glass ball to change different colours and attach it to the ceiling for later. Once we are done with our jobs, we help set the tables and make sure everything is in order.

We all finish after about 2 hours and we make sure that we collect all the bags ready to pack up everything tonight once the ball ends. After this we dismiss the prefects at about 2:30 with plenty of time to get ready for the 7pm ball. Hermione and I walk back up to our rooms to relax for a bit, with the plan to later shower and then get changed.

We both relax on the couch, her with a very large book, and me with my journal and sudoku puzzle book. I haven't updated my journal in a while so I take some time to do that.

_October 31st, 2017_

_It's been awhile since I've written about my days in here but I've finally managed to catch a break. It's the day of the Halloween ball. Hermione and I have been planning it for the last few weeks as Heads. She chose a wonderful colour scheme, and I think we've done a good job on the hall. It's been nice these past few weeks. I've spent a lot of time with Granger and learning about the muggle world. I haven't spent a lot of time on our essay, but hopefully I'll be able to work on that a bit more after today._

_Over the past while, since we made Amortentia in class, I've realized that I really like Granger. I gave her the necklace I bought her today and she really liked it. She's seems more beautiful every day, from her hair to her eyes. It feels so weird to hide all these feelings inside me. It's almost like when I used to hide my emotions and thoughts from Voldemort. She's so kind to me and I feel like I don't deserve it, but I also wish I could love her freely. Being her friend is great, but I wish I could tell her that I love her._

_I better stop writing this, as I must look really weird looking at my journal in such a sad way, before Hermione notices. I do not want to have to explain this to her and I don't really have any good excuses handy. Great, now I'm smirking. Anyway, till next time my paper friend._

I put my journal down and focus on a couple Sudoku puzzles instead now. I find that they are very calming and help clear my mind. When I've completed about 6 of them, I turn to look at my watch. The time reads 4:30, so I decide to use the bathroom and take a shower before Hermione does. I take a quick shower and then make sure I have everything ready to change into later, before putting on a set of casual clothes for now. I pull out my guitar and practise for a little bit. I look up the chords for Everything Has Changed, Hermione's favourite song, and play it after casting a _muffliato_.

After going through it a couple times, I decide to work a little bit on some small muggle studies assignments before getting changed into my suit.

Once I'm dressed, I make my way downstairs to the common room and sit on the window seat in the common room. I'm looking at the sunset and I watch it go all the way down past the mountains, as it casts a fiery colour on the lake. It's a wonderful view, and while I watch it, time passes in a slow, yet fluid way. When I finally snap out of my reverie, it's almost 6:45. I go to my room and straighten out my suit, making sure my shirt is tucked in and my tie is center. I then make sure I have everything I might need, placed neatly in my pockets. I walk down the stairs and sit waiting for Hermione to come down. I haven't sat down for 5 minutes yet, when she walks down the stairs.

She's wearing a dark blue floor-length dress with a sheer layer on top, and a seemingly smooth and flowy skirt underneath and straps about an inch thick. Her hair has been loosely tied in a bun like at the Yule ball in fourth year. Her makeup is fairly simple with some light lip gloss, and a dusting of silver eyeshadow. It's funny, being a Malfoy I've grown up with all of this, the makeup and fashion, around me so I know as much about it as most girls my age. Of course, to top it all off, the necklace I gave her is the perfect colour to go with her dress. I actually took a slight peek at it when she bought the dress as I offered to carry it, so I got a glimpse of the colour and chose the necklace with that in mind. I'm happy to know I was right. She looks absolutely stunning, and I get up to walk over to her.

"Do I look okay?" she asks me a little nervous.

"Okay? You're breathtaking right now." I say before adding "Not bad for a muggleborn." as a small joke. She smiles a bit at this and I smile back. She can tell I mean it in a nice way, unlike how I used to call her mudblood.

"And you look simply dashing Draco." She says in an imitation of a posh accent. "Come on, we better hurry otherwise we'll be late for the ball we organized."

"To be fair, I was waiting on you." I say.

"That's true, but you were the one who spent a good few minutes just staring at me when I came down."

"Wait really?" I knew I was staring, but I didn't think it was that long. Great, now she's going to think I'm really creepy.

"No silly, I would have yelled at you if you had." She replies with a bit of a smirk. I just glare back in response.

With that we walk down to the Great hall and step in. The candles have been dimmed, and the whole place looks wonderful. We find an empty table to sit at and wait for everyone else to arrive. Eventually Ginny, Blaise, Neville, Luna, the Patil twins, Hermione, and I are sitting together, and McGonagall stands to make the announcement that the ball has started.

"Excuse me students, when I'm done with my short speech here, we will be getting food based on table number. There should be a number on the centerpiece to indicate it. When it's you table's turn to go, it will glow with a golden hue. Now moving on, I would like to thank Mr. Malfoy, and Ms. Granger for organizing this ball setting it up for you guys, as well as the prefects for helping to set up also." Everyone gave a round of applause, and there were a few shouts of 'thank you'. "Secondly, I would like to thank the Weird Sisters for coming. Third, in between the two Weird Sisters performances, we will be doing a karaoke session. Each student that participates will earn 20 points for their house, so I advise you to try it. That's about it, oh! A reminder that tomorrow classes will start an hour later, and each period will therefore be 15 minutes shorter. That is all I have to say, so let the ball begin!"

The Weird Sisters begin to play some quieter songs while the tables are being sent up to get food and drinks. Our table is called up 5th, and soon after we finish eating we are dancing in the middle of the room. We just do a lot of silly dancing, and on the slower songs, do a little bit of 'waltz' style dance. Soon enough the Weird Sisters stop playing, signaling that the karaoke session is starting. No one seems to want to go first and it gets a little awkward. I turn to Hermione and ask her what to do.

"Hermione, no one's going up, what should we do?"

"I don't know, I just assumed someone would take the initiative and go first."

"Well, we could start together. That way we'll start it off, and people will feel less weird about it. It's getting a little quiet right now."

"Great idea Draco, but what song should we do?"

"I was thinking Everything has Changed? You know, you're favourite song? I even brought a guitar with me, so we don't need to play the song track."

"Wow, I didn't know you played guitar." She seems a little surprised at first but continues. "Okay, yes, let's go do it."

We then walk up to the stage, and each take a mic. I sling the guitar on my shoulder after unshrinking it and with a look at her, I begin playing.

_All I knew this morning when I woke_   
_Is I know something now, know something now I didn't before_   
_And all I've seen since eighteen hours ago is green eyes and freckles_   
_And your smile in the back of my mind making me feel like_

_I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now_   
_I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now_   
_I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now_   
_I just want to know you, know you, know you_

She starts to sing a little nervously at first, but very soon she's really getting into it. She smiles and starts to close her eyes as she sings it.

_'Cause all I know is we said hello_   
_And your eyes look like coming home_   
_All I know is a simple name, everything has changed_   
_All I know is you held the door_   
_You'll be mine and I'll be yours_   
_All I know since yesterday is everything has changed_

I join in for the harmony in the chorus, and it feels so natural and right. I was worried that I wouldn't remember how to sing it or that I'd be out of tune and hit the wrong notes, but that doesn't seem to be a problem. I'm just going on instinct right now.

_And all my walls stood tall painted blue_   
_But I'll take 'em down, take 'em down and open up the door for you_   
_And all I feel in my stomach is butterflies the beautiful kind_   
_Making up for lost time, taking flight, making me feel like_

I feel like I know the song so well, since I've heard it so many times, but this is kind of different. There's a different meaning behind it now. I can actually feel it, I've applied my own story to it now.

_I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now_   
_I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now_   
_I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now_   
_I just want to know you, know you, know you_

_'Cause all I know is we said hello_   
_And your eyes look like coming home_   
_All I know is a simple name, everything has changed_   
_All I know is you held the door_   
_You'll be mine and I'll be yours_   
_All I know since yesterday is everything has changed_

_Come back and tell me why_   
_I'm feeling like I've missed you all this time_   
_And meet me there tonight_   
_And let me know that it's not all in my mind_

We sing together and smile at each other as we do so. I soon forget that we're in front of a crowd, and that we're at a ball.

_I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now_   
_I just want to know you, know you, know you_

_All I know is we said hello_   
_Your eyes look like coming home_   
_All I know is a simple name, everything has changed_   
_All I know is he held the door_   
_You'll be mine and I'll be yours_   
_All I know since yesterday is everything has changed_

I look at her for what must be the millionth time tonight, and think again about how beautiful she is right now. How I'm so lucky to have her as a friend, how I'm so lucky we were partnered for so many things together. That I was able to get to know her.

_All I know is we said hello_   
_So dust off your highest hopes_   
_All I know is pouring rain_   
_And everything has changed_   
_All I know is a new found grace_   
_All my days, I'll know your face_   
_All I know since yesterday is everything has changed_

The song ends and we're pulled back into the real world as the whole room erupts in cheers. I look at her and she looks at me, and before we even realize it, we pull each other into a kiss, holding each other so tight. The rooms cheers even louder, but it seems even fainter to me. I'm just lost in emotion for this girl in front of me. We pull away and bow before running off the stage together, hands clasped in each other's firm and slightly shaky grip.

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Author's Note: I'm not great at kissing scenes, so I didn't dwell on it too much, but it did feel like a good moment for it. Again, thanks for reading, please review. I hope you all enjoy, and I hope you all have great week. Till next time!


	16. First Magic, A Comet, & Some Stumbling

Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter franchise, nor anything else affiliated with it.

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Hermione's POV

We finish the song and look at each other with pure joy. Before either of us even realize we're moving, we pull each other tight and kiss. We kiss in front of everyone else and surprisingly, I don't mind. I really couldn't care less about the others right now. We pull away, then bow, and run off the stage together. I'm not entirely sure but I think I hear people clapping and cheering for us. I can't be bothered to try and listen though. We exit the hall to catch a breather, but not before we see Pansy go up, pulling a scared looking Blaise behind her. If I wasn't distracted I'm sure I would have smirked at him. Great now Draco's mannerisms are rubbing off on me.

I guide Draco up to the astronomy tower, with him carrying his guitar over his shoulder. When we finally get up there, I let go of his hand so he can _reducio_ his guitar and put it in his pocket again. We both walk over to the window and look out at the night sky and the lake. The moon is fairly bright tonight and it casts a beautiful light on the water. The whole view is lit up because of the moon and the stars twinkling softly.

We stand for a moment, just looking out appreciating the view, before I ask Draco a question. It's something that I've wanted to ask for a while but was also a little weird.

"What was it like to grow up knowing you were a wizard?" I see that my question has caught him off guard. He seems shocked by it. He's silent for a bit, looking pensively at the handrail in front on us, then slowly he speaks up.

"Well, it was just kind of normal. When I showed my first signs of magic, it was shocking at first but at least I knew why it happened. My first sign was when I was about 7, I had just gotten another lecture from my father and I was walking back to my room. I just stood in front of a vase and glared at it as I wish I could at my father if I wouldn't get scolded. I was filled with so much hate and anger that the vase just shattered. I was so scared, I knew my father wouldn't be happy at all about it, so I ran and hid. He came up to my room and I started crying, I begged him to not send me to live with muggles and all sorts of nonsense that a 7 year old pure blooded kid comes up with when they're terrified. He just looked at me and carefully told me that I just showed my first sign of magic. He actually smiled at me and got me cookie. It was one of the only times my father was nice to me." He smirks a little with a rueful expression.

"Wow, I knew you had a rough childhood, but I didn't think it was that bad."

"Yeah, well most people assume I was pampered the whole time. Instead I was abandoned with just the house elves to take care of me. Now I'm curious to know, what was it like finding out you were a witch?" I should have seen the question coming, but for some reason I didn't. I organize my thoughts and think carefully before speaking.

"I don't know, I mean I had a pretty standard childhood up until I was 8. I was in muggle primary school when another girl was being bullied by some older boys. She stuttered a lot, and was very quiet. I got really angry and tried to tell them off. Then they turned to me and said that I was just a girl, 'what was I gonna do?'. I told them that I'd tell on them and one of them shoved me daring me to do it. I got really upset and yelled at him to not touch me. Just as I said that, they all flew back and hit the wall. I didn't think too much about it at first, but then I realized there was no way they could have gone that far even if you shoved them.

I tried researching it in the school library but I couldn't find anything. Other weird stuff happened as I got older including one time when I got upset that I couldn't have any candy when the other kids did, and I managed to turn my toothbrush into a lollipop. My parents weren't very happy with that since they're dentists." I see Draco looks a little confused when I say this.

"Oh right, Muggles have healers for their teeth called dentists. It's what my parents did. In the wizarding world there are charms to clean your teeth, but in the muggle world we have little brushes." Draco nods but I can tell he still doesn't quite get it. He can look it up later if he needs to.

"Anyway, then I got my Hogwarts letter, and finally everything made sense. I suddenly had an explanation after about 3 years of trying to figure it all out. I came to Hogwarts and it was just so surreal. Now I'm here, the brightest witch of our age. Sometimes it feels like this has all just been an elaborate dream and I'll wake up any second."

"I never thought of it that way. I guess it never really occurred to me that muggle borns had to have had a life before this, one they were torn away from and had to leave behind. I guess it's kinda weird." I silently agreed with him, I never thought about how it might have been to know about magic your whole life.

"It's funny, I feel like this is the most we've shared about each other. I wish this happened more often, maybe this can mark the start of a new chapter. A fresh start in our story together." I pause when I realize what I just said. "Wow sorry that sounded really cheesy."

"It was cheesy, but also kind of cute."

At that point a comet zoomed past us. We both looked up to look at it, and almost collided with each other. We laughed it off, but it was so nice to see the comet that we barely even acknowledged the blunder. We stayed there for about another 20 minutes just enjoying each other's presence and company.

"We should probably head back soon, before our friends send a search party for us." I say reluctantly, wishing we could stay here forever, learning everything possible thing about each other. It was really nice seeing a window into how he felt as a child, before all of the drama at Hogwarts, and it was also kind of nice to share how it felt to grow up a witch without knowing it.

"Yeah, we should. I don't want Blaise or the others to start rumours about what we did, especially after our kiss on stage. Oh my gosh, Pansy must be furious by now. I know she still has a bit of a crush on me and she gets very jealous, very easily." He says. I laugh at the thought of Pansy turning bright red with anger when she realized how long we've been gone.

"Not only that, but we kind of organized the ball. It's bad form to leave and not keep an eye on things." I add.

"True, that's quite right."

We walk at a moderate pace back to the Great Hall, to see a fifth year boy singing a very passionate rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen complete with dramatic dance moves. Some of the purebloods look kind of confused, but most of the muggleborns and half-bloods are hysterical. I find the sight really funny, and burst out laughing. Draco and I squeeze through the crowd to find our friends at our table talking with each other.

"Oh look, it's the love birds! Come back to join us after some love making?" says Blaise. I blush slightly, but just because I'm under pressure. I hate blushing because most people assume that I'm doing it because what they insinuated is true. Most of the time it isn't, and then rumours get out and no one let's it go for at least a couple of days.

"For your information Zabini, we were merely appreciating the beauty of the night sky. At least I didn't have to sing with Pansy." Even though we weren't around to see it, it must have been hilarious. I'm glad Draco answered though, as I don't trust myself to explain what happened without dithering.

"Ooh, you'll have to tell me all about it tomorrow Hermione. I want juicy details." says Ginny. I look at her with an exasperated look, but also signal that I will.

The rest of the dance passes without a hitch. We spend awhile at our table just chatting, then get up together and dance during one of the Weird Sisters last songs. Neville surprisingly, had the best dance moves, followed by Ginny, then Blaise, Padma, Parvati, Luna, me, and Draco. Draco looked like he was a baby horse trying to walk for the first time and I found it really cute. Eventually the ball ended, and Draco, the prefects, and I carefully took down everything as quickly as possible. It was a bit of a mess, but it was easier to clean up than if we had to do everything the muggle way. Soon we're finished and Draco and I send the prefects stumbling back to their dorms to go to bed.

I walked back to my room with Draco in tow, carrying a stack of bags containing decorations, and leftover supplies from the ball. I climbed through the portrait hole as gracefully as I could wearing high heels, carrying a huge pile of fabric, and of course being exhausted. Draco wasn't much better, and we both practically threw our bags onto the couches to sort out tomorrow before climbing up to our rooms and falling through our doors. I was so tired that I just collapsed onto my bed without taking off my clothes or removing my makeup, falling into a dreamless sleep.

If Ginny or Pansy was there to witness it, they'd probably have fainted at the sight of me ruining my dress like that. Having said that, if they were there I'd probably have fainted at the sight of them both being in my room.

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Author's Note: The Halloween ball has finally happened, please let me know what you guys think about it. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Please read and review, all feedback is welcome. Thanks for all your support and have a nice week. Till next time!


	17. A Conversation, a Blessing, & a Goodbye

Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter franchise, nor anything affiliated with it.

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It's been a week since the ball, and three days since Hermione told me that we're all going to meet 'Saint Potter' in Hogsmeade today. I'm kind of upset that she didn't tell me earlier, but I do understand that it was pretty easy to forget about between the ball and catching up on homework.

I still haven't chosen what movie or song to do for my essay for muggle studies, and it's due pretty soon. I have about a week to get it sorted and write the darn thing. Maybe I should ask Hermione for some recommendations. I'd better write it down for later.

Anyway Hermione has just gathered us all together, Neville, Ginny, Luna, Blaise, and I, so that we can leave together as a group. We all walk down to the main entrance and get our names ticked off the list by Filch. I give a slight nod towards him as I pass which he returns as he has helped me in the past and is nicer to me than other students.

We arrive at Hogsmeade after about 10 minutes of walking, and make our way over to the Three Broomsticks to meet Potter. We head inside and see that he's already there and has saved a table for all of us to sit at. It's a decent sized booth in the corner that doesn't look too conspicuous, but still gives some privacy from the chaos of the rest of the bar. This is pretty good considering we're all fairly high profile people and with all of us here any reporters who find us would have plenty of stuff to write about.

We sit down after Harry hugs all of them and shakes hands with Blaise and I. Harry sits on one end followed by Ginny, then Neville, then Luna, then Blaise, then Hermione, and finally me. Hermione and Ginny catch Harry up on what's happened since the start of the school year, and we all jump in every now and then to fill in details they forget or to correct information and certain stories. We spend a decent amount of time on what has been happening with muggle studies and what we think of it.

"Potter, do you have a phone?" I ask suddenly. I don't even know why I do, it just popped into my head and I said it without thinking.

"Um, yes Malfoy. Why?" He replies with a confused expression. I can't believe I'm actually at the point where I can hold a civilized chat with Potter. The world really has flipped since the war.

"Oh sorry, it just popped into my head, I didn't mean to say it out loud." I say with a slight blush, which with my complexion must make me seem a red as a tomato.

"It's alright. So what kind of equipment have you hooked up Blaise and Draco with Hermione? You weren't very specific with your earlier letter, and I'm curious to know what they've learned to use." She smiles, obviously eager to tell him all about how she convinced two purebloods to become pretty 'tech savy'.

"Well, I've taught them how to use a Chromebook, a smartphone, a smartwatch or activity tracker, earbuds, a dvd player, and a USB key in case the internet fails at any point. Blaise actually gave me the idea of the smartwatch because he had seen it in a muggle magazine in class." She beams as she says this. I love how she knows exactly what she's shown us, and how she makes it sound so normal.

"Wow, they're more caught up with the mainstream tech than I thought. Have you or the professor for muggle studies introduced video games yet?" I wonder what that is. By the name, I would guess that it's some sort of game on a dvd, but it could be something much more complicated than that. I remember when she took us out to get smartphones, I thought it would just be a regular phone that could maybe do math as well or something. It was so much more than that, you can text, call, use it for basic arithmancy, as a light instead of lumos, you can take muggle or wizarding pictures, set reminders, make notes, check your email… there were just so many uses!

"No, neither I nor Professor Carrington have taught them about them yet. I believe that's part of Unit E, we are currently starting Unit C and working on a final project for Unit B. Unit A was on communication, Unit B is on pop-culture and basic entertainment, Unit C is on household appliances, Unit D is on transportation, Unit E is on more specific recreational activities and hobbies, Unit F is on work and jobs, Unit G is on politics and government, and Unit H is on muggle world history. I think we can wait till the proper time to teach them about video games, I don't need them becoming addicted to it and slacking on school work for awhile."

I can see Ginny smirking, and Blaise looking really interested in these 'video games'. I guarantee he's going to look it up later just to annoy Hermione. I am shocked that she knows the curriculum that well, but it really shouldn't surprise me after knowing her for so long. Even if I wasn't her friend, you'd have to be… well I guess Harry Potter to not notice her crazy studying habits and need for information.

"Ah yes, Granger and her control freak nature. I mean, there's no other way for us to possibly find out what these 'video games' are without your help. Oh wait! We can just look it up on the internet." Blaise says, in a very sarcastic, but light hearted manner. I was right.

"Agreed, Zabini. Hermione, I can't believe you haven't showed them yet! You're the best person to play Lego© Avengers that I know! You'd never guess that you'd be so good at it." says Harry. I see Blaise pull out a scrap piece of parchment to write down all these terms so he can look it up. Luna's just staring off into space, Neville is kind of confused but it looks like he understands some of what's going on, and Ginny has a very annoying 'knowing' smirk on her face.

We sit for awhile longer just talking about how stuff has been and Harry tells us about his Auror training and how much fun it is. Ginny ask how much of an idiot Ron's been, and Harry merely says that he's "the same as when you guys left for Hogwarts, if not worse". I notice that Hermione tenses up a bit next to me and I put a reassuring hand on her forearm. She relaxes a little at this, but not by much. We order some lunch as it's getting a little late and we're taking up a fairly large table for nothing, before going to Honeydukes.

We each get a small basket full of items and leave the store with small white canvas bags, except for Hermione who keeps hers in her beaded purse. Afterwards, we walk up to the lake and chat under a large tree. Harry, Neville, Blaise, and I make a competition out of skipping stones into the water, Slytherins vs. Gryffindors. Thankfully it was really sunny today, so it wasn't as chilly as it usually is in November.

At one point while the others were exchanging some of the samples that Harry got from George's latest line of creations for his joke shop, he pulled me aside to talk.

"Malfoy, I can see the way Hermione reacts when she's around you. Though she may try to deceive everyone else and even herself otherwise, she obviously likes you. I'm not going to try and stop it because she's Hermione, and I trust her judgement of you. From what I've seen here today, you and Blaise have changed a lot since last year, and I'm happy to see that.

For what it's worth, you have my 'blessing' to be friends or even more it ever gets there. Just know that if you break her heart, or if you've just been tricking us this whole time, don't ever doubt that I will kill you for it. She's like a sister to me, and when people come along and break her heart or her trust, I get very angry. I trust you won't do that, but seeing as how her parents are dead, I feel obligated to give you the dad talk.

Just watch out for Ron alright? If he finds out that you and Hermione are becoming close, or are even just friends, he just might explode. As in, even worse than in Diagon Alley. I just want to give you a heads up."

"Thanks Potter, that felt weird but I'm glad you aren't going to kill me in the middle of the night. Weasley on the other hand may be an issue, but we'll cross that road when we get there." He gives me nod and we walk back together. We spend the rest of the day by the lake, and then later, we walk Potter back to the the village so he can apparate back to the Ministry. We give Ginny time to say goodbye in private, since she hadn't seen her boyfriend for about 2 months, then we all said our goodbyes. I just gave him a solid handshake when it was my turn and wished him luck with his job.

We go back to the castle and retire to our rooms after our long day. Once Hermione and I walk through our portrait hole, she gives me a big hug.

"Thank you for not causing trouble today. I know it was probably awkward, but I figured that if you and Blaise spent the day with us and Harry, he would be a lot less suspicious of you guys, and might even be friendly to you. Ron's a different story altogether, and actually I'd rather keep our friendship a secret from him for my sake as well as yours. I hope you weren't too bored or uncomfortable. Again, thanks for coming." With that she pulls away and walks up to her room. When she's about halfway up the stairs, I call out to her.

"Hermione!" I hear her stop. "It was my pleasure to join you and your, I mean our friends today. Goodnight, I hope you get a good night's rest." She comes back down a few steps and looks at me with a beautiful smile before replying.

"You too Draco, you too." Then she carries on to her room leaving me standing in the common room, realizing that I should probably head up too. I get ready for bed, and lie down thinking to myself about the day's events and how much I actually enjoyed myself. My last thought before I fell asleep was of Hermione standing next to the lake, a bright smile on her face as the light from the setting sun made her eyes and hair glow like gold, and the wonderful nature scene around her.

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Author's Note: Thanks for all your support, please read and review. Feedback is always welcome, and if you catch any mistakes feel free to send them to me. I tend to think faster than I can type, so I'll probably miss some words here and there. Thanks again for reading, and have a wonderful week. Till next time!


	18. A Basket, Cookies, & Motivations

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise, not anything affiliated with it.

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Hermione's POV

I am in the library studying for a Potions test when I hear someone sneak up next to me. I turn around to see Draco with a nervous smile on his face. He appears to be hiding a small picnic basket, like the stereotypical ones you see in muggle movies, behind his back.

"Hey Hermione, I was wondering if you wanted to have a picnic dinner tonight on the Astronomy tower? Before you ask, I already got permission to use it from Professor Sinistra. No one will bother us, it'll just be you and me. Also I know we don't have any homework due for the next 3 days, so don't say you're too busy." After a moment he adds. "Please come."

For a moment I'm too shocked to respond. He seems to know me well enough to assume what I might object to, and the questions I would ask of him first. He's left me with no other response besides yes or no, and me being the person I am, I can't really no to this proposal. Besides, there doesn't seem to be a problem with the situation as far as I can tell; it's not as if I don't trust him.

"I would love to come, just give me a second to pack up my books." At my response, his nervous smile turns into a grin. He patiently waits while I gather my stuff, as he knows that I'm very particular about my school work and supplies and I very much dislike it when people mess things up. When I'm finished gathering my stuff we walk up to the astronomy tower, dropping my books in our common room on the way.

Once we get up there, Draco pulls a blanket from the picnic basket, and sets out a plate of pumpkin cookies, tea sandwiches, a bowl of chocolate covered strawberries, a container of vanilla ice cream with a cooling charm to prevent it from melting, and a jug of lemonade. The food seems like more of a lunch thing, but before I say anything, he conjures a swirly orb-like light and makes it hover above us to give the effect of a sun. We eat for awhile in silence before I decide to start the conversation.

"This food is really good. Did you make it yourself or did you manage to persuade some of the house elves to do it for you?"

"I got one of the house elves that used to work at Malfoy manor to do it, with the exception of the cookies. As I said the last time we were up here, the house elves were pretty much parents to me. Well anyway, Dobby had this amazing recipe for butter cookies, and I decided to ask Winky if Dobby ever taught it to her. Apparently he did, and with a little bit of persuasion, she helped make all of this for us."

"Wow, that's really cool. You really did put a lot of thought into this. I do have another question though, you don't have to answer but I'm just a little curious. Why did you bully me so much in our earlier years and what made you change?" I can see that he's formulating his answer, and I let him have a few moments. He opens his mouth a couple times but then shuts it, and flustered and slightly rueful smile on his face. He finally responds after a couple of minutes.

"Well, I was brought up with all these prejudices against muggles and muggle borns. I never knew any muggle borns, so it was easy to believe that they were 'animals' and lesser than us purebloods. When you're young, you believe whatever you're taught, especially when it comes from your parents. It doesn't matter if it makes sense, it's just all you know. When I met you, it was still easy to pretend that you were less than human. My conscience did nag at me when I bullied you, but I didn't want to get hurt by my father so I just got worse. As I got older, I started doubting these ideas, but I couldn't very well suddenly change my views and attitude. I was worried that the Slytherins and my friends would judge me or tell my father, and he would have been furious. It got so much harder when Voldemort came back. Especially when I was tapped to become a Death Eater.

I never actually had a choice in the matter. If I refused the mark, my family would have been hurt as punishment. My father may have been unnecessarily cruel to me, but he is still my family. I have always had very strong love for his mother, even though it was unrequited. It was because of this that I was reluctant to disobey his orders, and I became a Death Eater. As things progressed in sixth year, I felt like my soul was being crushed more and more every day. The weight of everything I was doing was awful, but I had to keep doing it for the sake of my family, and myself. It was a matter of survival. I was essentially being blackmailed. During that time, I had to re-enforce the mask I had already started building from a young age. I hid my emotions from everyone and pushed every doubt I had deep into the recesses of my mind. I had to bury everything that could have caused me to slip under many layers as some Death Eaters used Occlumency and Voldemort often used it at the drop of a hat to see if he could trust his followers."

He finishes his answer, and I realize that I've gotten a much lengthier and deeper answer than I had hoped for. He's basically thrown his heart out there for me to catch, and I can't afford to drop it now. I have to choose my next words very carefully, or this will all crumble like a house of cards.

"I've never thought about it that way. I guess it never crossed my mind that any Death Eaters might have doubts, and what might become of them. One of the shortfalls of the "good" people in war, is that they assume that the other side either is completely for what they're doing or they don't want to do it at all. I guess that's true, but they also assume that they can just stop what they're doing at the drop of a hat and join us. It's not that easy is it? If Voldemort ever found out, he would make your life a living hell and hunt all your loved ones wouldn't he. I'm so sorry you had to go through all that last year."

I can see all the plain emotion in his eyes as he relives all of the turmoil he went through over the last few years of his life. I get up from where I'm sitting and give him a tight hug. Not a soft reassuring hug, a strong hug that will let him know that I'm there for him, that I'll be there for him to hold onto for dear life whenever he needs me to. I try to convey as much emotion into it as I possibly can with such a simple gesture. I feel him hug me back just as tight, and we just sit there like this for awhile. When we finally let each other go he looks at me with a cautious look and asks me a question.

"Hermione, I've wanted to ask you this for awhile now, and I got approval from Potter the other day to do this, but would you be my girlfriend?" I stare at him for awhile, the answer right in front of me. It feels too good to be true. I've always wished I had the courage to ask him, but I guess he beat me.

"Absolutely! I've wanted to ask you the same thing since that potions class." I can tell he knows exactly which class I'm talking about, as I'm guessing we both had similar experiences. "Draco, I've wanted to say this for awhile, but I love you."

"I love you too Hermione, I'm never letting you go." He then pulls me in close to him and kisses me. It's a lot softer than the one we had on stage during the ball, but there is so much more emotion behind this one. We pull away and look at each other's eyes, before packing up our stuff to return to our dorm. We drop off the dishes and basket by the portrait that leads to the kitchens for the house elves to pick up, then retire to our rooms, to consumed in thought to focus on homework right then.

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Author's Note: Please review, I really appreciate feedback, and I apologize for any errors in my work, I have very hard time finding the errors unless I print it which uses a lot of paper. Anyway thanks for your support, and have a great week. Till next time!


	19. A Gut Feeling, Lullabies, & Inheritance

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise nor anything affiliated with it. I also do not own any songs used in this fic, all rights to those songs belong to the artists, go support their work on Youtube, Spotify, or other music platforms.

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Draco's POV

I walk into my room after classes today, and pull out my journal. I try to start my entry, but I just don't have the concentration to do that. It's almost 3 days before the muggle studies essay is due, but I still haven't started it yet. I haven't even chosen the song or movie that I'll be writing the essay on. I need to work on it but I can't concentrate. I've had trouble focusing all day because I have a really bad gut feeling. Something is wrong, but I can't figure out what it is.

I pace the room for a while and start practising some simple spells on the objects in my room. Spells like wingardium leviosa and accio. I bring out my guitar and start playing some of the lullabies my mother used to play to me when I was restless and needed to calm down. I play through them endlessly and after awhile, I hear a knock at the door. I open it to see Hermione with a plate of food.

"Hey Draco, I was just wondering if you're okay. I noticed you were pretty distracted today and then you didn't turn up at dinner. I brought you some food in case you were hungry, since you didn't eat earlier. The rest of the group and I were worried. Do you want to talk about it?" I love that Hermione noticed all of that and that she cared enough to bring me food. Though it's Hermione so I really shouldn't be surprised.

"Yeah sure, come on in. It's a bit of a mess in here, but we can sit on the bed." She follows me over to the bed, and then hands me the plate of food.

"So why are you so distracted today? Did something happen, or was it just a 'meh' day?" She asks me after I've taken a couple of bites of the food.

"I honestly don't know, I just have a weird feeling that something's wrong or that something bad has happened, but I haven't gotten or letter or something. It's like I can tell somethings wrong, but I don't know what it is!" I sort of just sit there for a second and stare at the half empty plate. Suddenly I don't feel to hungry but I don't know why.

I'm sick and tired of not knowing. It's always been a problem, like not knowing if I should be Death Eater, not knowing if my friends had survived the battle of Hogwarts and worrying about them, not knowing whether Hermione liked me or not, not knowing if Potter was going to kill me when he pulled me aside to talk to me in Hogsmeade, not knowing if Ron is going to hunt me down soon, not knowing why I feel off today, and not knowing why I don't want to eat. The last one sounds trivial, but it all matters in the moment it happens.

Hermione just looks at me for awhile in a somewhat calculating sort of way. Then she reaches over to squeeze my hand in a reassuring way. She smiles at me and says, "Don't worry you'll figure it out soon enough, or maybe it was just 'one of those days'. Maybe you got food poisoning or something like that. It would explain why you seem to have stopped eating since I know your usual appetite is larger than that." She says, gesturing to the unfinished food on my plate. I give a small smile back in response, but it doesn't quite reach my eyes.

Just then I hear a knock from the window, and see a brown and golden owl with a letter in its beak. I go over and open the window to let the owl in and see that it's raining and really gloomy. Great, the weather matches my mood as well, today really is not my day. I take the letter from the owl's beak, rub his head, and give him a treat, before letting him fly out again into the cold rain.

I walk back to bed and take a look at the letter. First I look at the envelope and determine that it's a formal letter as it has a very formulaic layout, and when I receive messages from friends and family, it's usually just addressed to 'Draco' as supposed to 'Mr. Draco Malfoy'. I turn it over and the seal indicates it's from the Ministry of Magic. The sense of dread that had been building up all day suddenly grew stronger. I knew that this letter, whatever it contained, had to be very bad. With a deep breath I open the letter and start reading it.

_Dear Mr. Malfoy,_

_We regret to inform you that your mother, Narcissa Malfoy, has passed away recently._

I stop reading. I go back read the line again.

_We regret to inform you that your mother, Narcissa Malfoy, has passed away recently._

That can't be right. No. Not my mother. Not after everything that's already happened and gone wrong in my life.

I swallow and force myself to keep reading.

_For more details on why and how, please contact the Department of Mortuary Affairs with your name, the name of the deceased, and your relation to them. In accordance with Ms. Malfoy's will, you shall receive a key within the next 72 hours to her personal savings account in Gringotts, full access to her collection of art, and a journal which should arrive at the same time as they key._

_The full reading of her will shall be held Saturday December 9 2017, from 1:30pm-4:30pm at the Department of Mortuary Affairs office on the 4th floor of the Ministry in London. As you are the only one in line for the property that is Malfoy Manor, with Lucius Malfoy being incarcerated in Azkaban, you will have ownership of it till such a time comes as to when Lucius Malfoy becomes eligible to repossess it. Upon such a time, he shall take command of the property till his death, unless it is repossessed by the bank for financial issues._

_As you are still a student in Hogwarts, you have been given leave for the day of the full reading of Ms. Malfoy's will, and a copy of this letter, with certain details removed for privacy, has been sent to your Headmistress McGonagall for her to confer with you how long you will spend in mourning._

_Our deepest sympathies,_

_Helga Barnagie_

_Head of the Department of Mortuary Affairs_

The rest of the letter feels so cold and removed. There is nothing at all comforting about it.

I stare at the letter for a while, and Hermione looks at me with a worried expression. I contemplate hiding the letter from her, but I can't trust myself to speak right now. I hand her the letter and watch her skim it. She looks shocked at first, and then starts to look sad. When she's done, she looks up at me and says, "Do you want to talk about it or…"

"No, do you mind leaving? I just want to be alone for a bit." I say. I hope it doesn't sound rude, but I won't be able to hold back my tears for much longer.

"Yeah sure, just remember, I'll be here for you. I know what you're going through." I realize that she really does, seeing as how her parents died during the war. Once she leaves and shuts the door behind her, I grab my guitar from where I left it earlier and pick it up. I cast muffliato, and try to remember the song I heard about 2 months back, when Hermione shared her music playlist with me. I think it's called Supermarket Flowers by Ed Sheeran.

_I took the supermarket flowers from the windowsill_   
_I threw the day old tea from the cup_   
_Packed up the photo album Matthew had made_   
_Memories of a life that's been loved_   
_Took the get well soon cards and stuffed animals_   
_Poured the old ginger beer down the sink_   
_Dad always told me, "don't you cry when you're down"_   
_But mum, there's a tear every time that I blink_

I think back to when I was about 5 years old. It was about 20 minutes before a gala in our house. The house elves tried to get my into formal wear, but I wouldn't have it. My mother came up to see what the fuss was, and saw me almost on the verge of tears not wanting to get out of my pyjamas. She sat down with me and let me sit on her lap.

_Oh I'm in pieces, it's tearing me up, but I know_   
_A heart that's broke is a heart that's been loved_

_So I'll sing Hallelujah_   
_You were an angel in the shape of my mum_   
_When I fell down you'd be there holding me up_   
_Spread your wings as you go_   
_And when God takes you back we'll say Hallelujah_   
_You're home_

She took the clothes and asked me why I didn't want to wear them. I told her that they weren't as comfy as my pyjamas, and I didn't want to wear what my father wanted me to. She had a small smile on her face and asked if she could turn my pyjamas into a suit so it would be comfy, but still fancy. I still wasn't convinced so my mother, the ultimate image of sophistication and elegance, got dressed into a pair of her pyjamas and turned it into an evening gown to demonstrate her idea to me.

_I fluffed the pillows, made the beds, stacked the chairs up_   
_Folded your nightgowns neatly in a case_   
_John says he'd drive then put his hand on my cheek_   
_And wiped a tear from the side of my face_

_I hope that I see the world as you did cause I know_   
_A life with love is a life that's been lived_

I liked the idea at that point and she turned my pyjamas into a suit. Together we went down and we were the best dressed that day, but throughout the dance we smiled at each other knowing that the clothes were really pyjamas. It's really small, but it was one of the things she did that made me love her so much.

_So I'll sing Hallelujah_   
_You were an angel in the shape of my mum_   
_When I fell down you'd be there holding me up_   
_Spread your wings as you go_   
_And when God takes you back we'll say Hallelujah_   
_You're home_

My mother did many small caring things for me throughout my childhood that helped make up for all of the times she had to ignore me, or when my father thought I was useless or unworthy. I think about our last days together, how we took walks in the garden and just marvelled at it's beauty together. I feel sad knowing that I'd never get to talk to her about nature ever again. I also realize that she will never know that I found a girl after all. I know she was always worried that I wouldn't find a woman who loved me or one whom I loved, especially when we got closer and closer to the war. She worried that no one would ever love Death Eater, no matter how charming or sweet I was around her.

_Hallelujah_   
_You were an angel in the shape of my mum_   
_You got to see the person that I have become_   
_Spread your wing_   
_And I know that when God took you back he said Hallelujah_   
_You're home_

I place my guitar on the floor next to its case and I suddenly feel the pressing weight of complete and utter exhaustion. I just manage to fall onto my bed before I'm engulfed in a fitful sleep filled with memories of my mother.

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Author's Note: In case any of you are wondering, I made up the "Department of Mortuary Affairs" though there is a real one in the U.S. army. Thanks for all of your support, please review. I hope you all have a nice week, till next time.


	20. Food, Faithfulness, & Life Reflections

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise, nor anything else affiliated. I also do not own any songs used in this fic, all rights to those songs belong to the artists, go support their work on Youtube, Spotify, or other music platforms.

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Hermione's POV

It's been about two days since Draco got the letter from the Ministry about his mother's death. He hasn't left his room once, and I haven't heard much noise from him either. It would be one thing if I could hear movement in there but because there is none, my mind likes makes the worst possible conclusions. The only indication I have that he is alive, is the consumed plate of food just outside his door. Everyday when I go for meals in the Great Hall I get a plate for Draco and put a note under his door to tell him that there is food outside. Somehow he manages to time it in such a way that I'm never around when he gets the plate and puts it back.

I feel really bad, that I'm not doing enough for him, but I don't want to bother him either. I remember wanting to be alone for awhile after dealing with the death of my parents, but I also wished that people had come looking for me and tried harder to reach out to me. So although I might leave him alone for now, I'll continue to support him in small ways and be ready for him. If I need to, I'll break into his room to coax him out of the shell I know he's building right now.

I walk up to his room now and pull out the note I wrote today in class. Along with the plate of food for dinner that I place in front of the door, I slide the note under like I usually do. I've started leaving little book quotes on the paper as well. The quote I use today is from a trilogy I read a couple years back called the Legend trilogy by Marie Lu. The quote is 'Each day means a new twenty-four hours. Each day means everything's possible again. You live in the moment, you die in the moment, you take it all one day at a time.' It's one of my favourite quotes and it helped me live through every day when I felt lost and sad in the middle years at Hogwarts.

Once I've placed the food and note, I turn to my room and gather my stuff to get to work on my homework. I set my stuff up on my desk in my room and go over my essay once again to make sure it's alright. I'm always worried that I'll miss the mistakes in my work as I used to have a big problem with that when I used to go to muggle Primary school. It was always little things that the teachers didn't really mind, but I still didn't like making the mistakes in the first place. I finish reading it over again and roll in up ready to hand in to Professor Carrington. I've started doing my homework in my room now, as Draco probably won't be coming out for awhile and it feels weird to do my work in the common room all alone. I've always done my work with other people so I decided to just completely change the setting for my work.

I go online and check my homework planner to make sure I haven't forgotten any work tonight. My plan shows that I don't have any assignments due for the next while, so open one of my favourite websites. My parents didn't let me use social media when I was younger and I never saw the appeal in doing so anyway, however both my mother and I always loved using Pinterest. I open it to check my feed and spend a good hour on it. I find that my feed is often filled with a lot of funny stories, or headcanons about my favourite books or fandoms. Most of my friends don't know it, but I'm a complete nerd when it comes to my fandoms. One of my favourites is the MCU or Marvel Cinematic Universe as it is so thoroughly connected, allowing people to see many different hidden connections.

Once I feel like taking a break, I go outside and check to see if the plate it gone. The plate is still outside the door, but the food is all gone and the plate is scraped clean. I collect it and take it directly down to the kitchens. Once I get down there, I take the pear on the fruit bowl portrait to let myself in. Once I'm in, I find Winky to give the dishes to her.

"Hi Winky." I say.

She turns around in surprise.

"Hello Mistress Hermione. What can Winky do for you today?" I smile at her.

"I just have some dishes and I was wondering if I could give them to you to take care of."

"Of course Mistress Hermione. Winky would love to help such a wonderful person, Mistress only need ask. Next time Mistress should just summon Winky so she doesn't have to travel down all those stairs."

I can't help but laugh at her last statement. "Winky, it's alright. I enjoy the walks down here anyway. I need more exercise." Winky just nods and takes the dishes from me."

"Does Mistress need anything else? A plate of cookies?" I remember what Draco said about the cookies Dobby used to make him and that they always made him feel happy. Perhaps it'll cheer him up.

"Actually Winky, I might take you up on the cookies. That'll be all though. Thank you." She nods in affirmation.

"Mistress is always welcome. Winky will send the cookies up to your dorm right now."

I then turn and leave to get back to our room. When I get back, I see a plate of the cookies I requested lying on the kitchen counter. I pick it up and go up to his room, then knock on his door to see if he'll answer it.

"Draco, are you okay?" No response, with a sigh I sit in front of the door and begin my evening routine.

"Well today in Potions we started working on the Girding Potion, it gives the drinker extra endurance.

"In Transfiguration we were working on turning ourselves into other objects. It's pretty fun, but Hannah managed to do it so that she turned herself into a chest of drawers with one arm and one leg. It was pretty funny.

"In muggle studies we haven't done too much, but we'll be starting our unit on transportation soon. I know you want to miss it, so you better come out soon. Everyone's wondering what's happened to you, and I don't have any answers for them.

"Anyway in Arithmancy we're doing exponential and logarithmic functions, it's been pretty good so far but Professor Septima wants to move the test date two days earlier. She's made me reschedule my entire math study plan. Anyway, it's getting late so I have to go know. Please come out soon Draco, we really miss you. I'll always wait for you." I then place the cookies by his door before slipping a piece of parchment that says, 'A treat from Winky' under it.

After that I get up and go to my room and put on a song while I fall asleep. I select the playlist I made during 5th year as I haven't listened to it in a while and from what I remember of it, it kind of connects to my mood right now. I set up a timer for it to go off in about 20 minutes, then hit shuffle and repeat before placing my phone on my bedside table and curling up in a ball under my sheets.

In sixth year I was always worried about my friends and their safety, and I made a promise to myself to always be there for them when they needed me. That's how I feel right now, and the music on the playlist reflected that feeling. The playlist contains about 20 songs but will probably only play 7 before the timer goes off, and about 4 songs before I fall asleep.

The first song to come up is Photograph by Ed Sheeran. When I listened to it the first time, I connected to the more romantic side of the song and I still do. However there is a line in there about even if 'you hurt me… I won't ever let you go'. I found this connected both romantically in terms of waiting for Ron to return my feelings, and in terms of Harry when he often left me and Ron out of the loop as to what he was doing with Dumbledore and why he was following Draco. They both pushed me away in their own ways, but I still held on and waited for them through thick and thin.

The second song is We Are Brave by Shawn McDonald. This song is a bit more peppy than most of the music in my playlists, and a little more abstract in my current situation, but it still connects. The song is all about standing through fires together. It's very easy to fall apart without support, and I learned that the hard way. I was eventually really depressed after the war and I wish my friends had tried harder to reach me, so I'll pass on the favor to Draco and do my best to reach him with what resources I have. I'm determined to not let him waste his life, no matter how sad and upset he is right now.

The next song is A Rush Of Blood to the Head by Coldplay. This song has a bit of a menacing feel to it, but I see it as a promise to stand by a friend or partner especially when they're hurting. You should always do your best to help the hurting, as you never know when you might need it next. As the song is playing, I remind myself of my promise to help Draco come out of this in one piece and with as little judgement from our peers, as I know they are already gossiping about him.

The last song is Speak Life by TobyMac. I love this song because of its positive message. No matter happens to you in life, always strive to be as positive as possible and empathetic. Words have to power to hurt and give hope, give and take life. One thing that my parents taught me is to T.H.I.N.K. about what I say. What you say should be True, Helpful, Inspirational, Necessary, and Kind. I know that I failed at this miserably when I used to fight with Draco, but I hope that I've moved past that. Now my everyday goal is to speak life into Draco to help him come back to us.

As these songs finish, I finally let my brain rest after using it to think about very tiring thought. I've exhausted my brain for tonight, and now I can let it rest in peace before another day of the chaos known as life.

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Author's Note: Thanks for the continued support! Adding in A Rush of Blood to the Head was inspired by a fic I read awhile ago, also Dramione that is really good. The story is called Magnetic Attraction by ellamalfoy8, on fanfiction.net. Feel free to give feedback, it's always appreciated. Have a great week, till next time!


	21. Nightmares, Notes, & Pain Induced Poetry

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise nor anything affiliated with it.

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Draco's POV

_I'm in the manor, walking down the main staircase. My surroundings are mostly dark since it's night, but they're also bathed in a strange shifting pale green light, almost like the source is underwater. When I reach the bottom, I feel an urge to enter the living room nearby. I hesitate, but as I do so my dark mark burns._

_I slowly creep to the white wooden door that's been left ajar. The flames from the fire cast a wobbling glow on my face as I peek inside. I see my mother sitting in a white leather armchair facing the fireplace with a glass of crystal delicately balanced in her hand. I carefully push the door open but she doesn't move, she just stays stays staring at the fire. I walk over slowly and touch her shoulder._

_I know something's wrong when I feel how cold she is, even through the fabric of her robes._

_"Mother what are you doin-" I suddenly jump when she turns around with inhuman speed and grabs my wrist with an iron grip. Her eyes are black and look dead, her skin is a pale as a corpse and seems to hang off of her body._

_"What have you done my son? You've disgraced the family name by marrying the mudblood Granger. Voldemort has already killed your father in retribution, but he is coming for you just as he's coming for me." she rasps. Her hand starts to feel really heavy and I feel a strong burning sensation coming from it. I look down to see black vines coming from it that look similar to the lines on the Dark Mark. They wrap around my arm and my shoulder, climbing around my whole body engulfing me. Just before they completely obscure my vision, my mother speaks one last time._

_"I feel him coming for us, and it's all your fault! I died because of you!"_

I bolt upright in my bed, knocking the covers off. I'm covered in a sheen of sweat and my Dark Mark throbs. Not in the way it did when he used to summon us, but in a shallow and subtle way. I grab a pillow and cover it quickly before I remember what happened last year. This is the 5th night in a row now that I've had nightmares. I thought they had stopped during the summer, that I was finally rid of them. The death of my mother seems to have brought them back in full swing. All the nightmares have connected to my mother, my family's disappointment in me, and Hermione.

Hermione, she's done so much for me in these last few days. I'm so grateful for her support, but I can't bring myself to leave my room. I feel really distant and distracted, I'm glad she hasn't given up on me yet. It's not that I'm really upset about my mother dying, I'm upset that I never got to share as much as I wanted to with her. I'll never be able to ask her for advice with women, never be able to gain her approval of whom I wed, she'll never have a chance to see her only heir get married, she'll never have a chance of having any grandchildren, she'll never have the life she's always wanted. First it was Voldemort that got in the way, then it was all the prejudice from both sides that poisons the wizarding world so much these days, and now she's dead.

Anyway, Hermione has been supporting me in many ways. She's one of the only reasons I don't give up so easily. I always find it amazing how much she does for her friends, now I'm part of that group as well. Potter and Weasley take her for granted, but she has never expected anything back. She supplies me with food everyday, making sure that I stay healthy even in my half-dead state. Many friends would do that, but not as many would take the time to leave notes or make sure I stay caught up with what's been happening in everyday life. I love hearing her go over her day and while she does that, I feel happy for that brief period of time. Then there was the cookies she brought about 3 days ago. I really liked those and they made me feel a little better.

I get up from the bed and check the time on my watch. It's 3:04, so I know Hermione's asleep at this point. I go to the bathroom and make sure I lock the door before washing my face and taking a good look at my face. Though my room has a huge window with a wonderful view of the hills, I haven't opened the curtains during my 'hibernation' period so I look even paler than usual. My face looks gaunt, despite the fact that I'm eating all the food that Hermione's given me, and I look very tired due to my disturbed sleep, with bloodshot eyes, bags under them, and skin that's even paler than usual. I take a quick shower before leaving the bathroom in case Hermione wakes up and needs to use it.

I walk back into my room and gather all the notes she's given me. I place them in a circle and read through them all before gathering them and pulling them to my chest as I roll back on the carpeted floor and cry silently. This is one of the many things I learnt when I was younger. My father always taught me to never show emotion, as 'Malfoy's don't cry'. I could never do this, so instead I learnt how to do it in as quiet a way as possible. As I lie on the floor crying silent tears, I suddenly feel the urge to pick up my journal. I slow my breathing down and collect myself as I wipe my tears with the back of my hand. I take the notes and place them in a sort of pile on my desk as I grab the journal and sit down. I feel fragments of poetic lines start to form in my head and quickly put quill to paper and let the words just flow.

Watch it burn, lick the flames  
As it crumbles in the silent rain  
As the ashes rise and the crows descend  
As the blood all falls and the tears don't end  
As the cries grow silent and the colours ebb away  
As the bonds they break and the thoughts they fray

I place the quill back in it's holder and read over what I've written. It's a short bit of poetry, but it helps me get the emotion of the Battle of Hogwarts out of my head. It's strange, I'm trying to get over my emotions about my mother and instead she's helped me sort out my emotions for another part of my life.

I sit there for a while before pulling out my laptop and opening my Google Drive. I type out the poem there so I can look back at it in two different places. I then open YouTube and create a happier playlist to keep my negative emotions at bay. Music affects my mood quite a bit so I want to use it to improve my mood a bit.

I then dive into my homework because it feels wrong to not do any school work for such a long time and Hermione's been rubbing off on me way too much. Doing my homework gives me a sense of purpose and I don't feel too much while doing it as you just need motivation to get it done and over with. I don't want to hand the work in yet when I finish, but at least I have the work done so when I finally get over myself I can hand it in. I rub my eyes and realize I'm feeling pretty tired. I close the tabs after checking through my email one more time, and crawl back into bed just in time for Hermione to be waking up to get ready for school.

* * *

Author's Note: The poem is mine and I hope you like it. I'm sorry about how I've dealt with Draco's emotions, grief, and fears or if it wasn't communicated in a clear enough way. I'm basing it off what I know and since none of my parents have died, thank goodness, I'm just kind of guessing. It's not an accurate reaction and my sympathies are with anyone who has gone through a similar situation. Thank you for your support, feedback is always welcome, and thanks for reading. Have a great week, till next time!


	22. Confrontation, Revelations, & Open Doors

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise, nor anything affiliated with it. I also do not own any songs used in this fic, all rights to those songs belong to the artists, go support their work on Youtube, Spotify, or other music platforms.

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Hermione's POV

It's been a couple of days since Draco hid himself from the rest of us and I'm starting to feel really lonely. Ginny and Luna have had a lot of assignments due recently so they can't spend as much time with me, Neville has been busy helping Professor Sprout take care of the plants on the Hogwarts premises before winter as the battle damaged most of them, and Blaise has been spending most of his time running away from the seventh and eighth year Slytherin girls since they realized he was the only male Slytherin with lots of money and a good reputation. I feel happy for the boys, but I also feel kind of jealous. As a Head I have a lot of responsibilities, some of which I've had to take over for Malfoy, but right now it's just patrolling and being the communication point between the teachers and students. I don't have very much to do besides that as I've hit a bit of a slow point in school work and I must have read almost all the books in the library by now.

I walk out of the Transfiguration classroom and head down to the Great Hall after dropping my books off in my room. I sit with my friends like usual, but I don't feel like eating a lot today. I gather a plate for Draco and start to leave when I hear someone call, or rather screech, my name.

"Granger!" I turn around in surprise to see Pansy stalking after me. She reaches me in just a few strides and drags me into the hallway. I struggle to not drop the food and just barely balance it properly.

"What have you done to my Draco!" she practically yells at me. She doesn't seem that sad or heartbroken, just angry.

"Sorry what?" I look at her in confusion, not quite understanding what she's talking about.

"My Drakie-poo hasn't been seen for days now! What have you done to him, killed him? Finally got sick of him calling you a mudblood and hoped your war-hero status would save you from Azkaban? Well it won't!" I stare at her, and after a few moments I laugh. It starts out as a giggle at first, but soon it's hysterical. She starts to look confused and slightly perturbed by my behaviour. I take a few deep breaths before answering her in the simplest way possible in an attempt to get it in her thick skull.

"Pansy, I haven't done anything to Draco. His mother died about a week ago and he's been mourning this whole time. In fact, I'm on my way right now to give him some food so he doesn't starve to death."

"Ohh, well… you're still a filthy mudblood slime ball. Hmph." She says very indignantly. At that she stalks off and I have to bite my lip to prevent myself from laughing yet again. The whole encounter was so stupid and pathetic. I walk up to my dorm room and climb the stairs to our rooms before leaving the plate of food by Draco's door with another note.

I settle down for the evening and do some homework. When I finish that I read for about an hour before I put the book down in utter boredom. It's really sad, but books no longer capture me in the same way they did before the war. They all seem so fake now, particular my adventure novels, or just plain boring. I never thought that day would ever come but here I am now, completely and utterly bored and not wanting to read books. I carefully place the book on my shelf, just because I don't find them as interesting as before doesn't mean I don't hold them in high value, and leave to take a walk. My patrols don't start for another hour, but if I don't go out I'll go insane.

As Head Girl, I can leave and wander the grounds without permission or supervision, but I haven't really used that privilege till now. I walk down to the lake and sit under a tree to watch the sun set. I sit and just take in the crisp fall air, the golden rays of sun that are slowly fading, the soft touch of the grass underneath me, the smell of the trees surrounding me, the shimmering surface of the lake, and just the delicacy of it all. I allow myself to just stop thinking and relax. After awhile, I get up and return to the castle to do my patrols.

I wander the halls and break up a couple squabbles, as well as direct a group of lost first years. We really should give them maps or at least have a couple interactive ones on the walls in more secluded spaces, especially since the portraits are almost useless at giving directions. I remember that even though I read Hogwarts: A History about twice in first year and could tell you the placement of every single portrait in the school, I still got lost many times before Harry and Ron became friends with me. Actually I still did even when they befriended me, in fact I think it happened even more often with them.

I return to my dorms to collect Draco's plate and take it down to the kitchens like usual. As I take it down I think back to Pansy's words from earlier, and my own response when I remember a small bit that I said. When she accused me of doing something to him, I said that I 'hadn't done anything to him', and though that's not entirely true, I could be doing more. I've been scared about pressuring him, but it's been awhile and I think I need to try a little harder. I think back to when we first started becoming friends. It was probably on the Hogwarts Express coming to Hogwarts. When I look back at it, the main thing we bonded over and still do bond over is music. We were able to draw each other out with music because of its simplicity, but also its ability to convey complex emotion in an easy to understand way. I practically run back to my dorm once I've realized this and pull up my computer.

I search my playlists trying to find a song that would convey what I want to say to him. Eventually after searching in one of my oldest playlists, I find a song that I think fits. I change a couple words and find an instrumental track. I download the song to my phone and sit outside Draco's door like I usually do at the end of the day.

"Draco, I know you're in there. I realized today that you need friend right now. I don't want to pressure you or anything, but it's not going to help you by staying in there. I know your mother died and you're mourning her death, but I also know that mourning my parents brought a lot of memories back from during the war. I know you had a very hard time during the war, and you're probably having a very hard time reliving those memories. I just want you to know that I'll always be here for you. I also wanted to explain this to you in a simpler way so just keep listening for a little longer." My thoughts are kind of muddled right now, and I'm not sure if any of it made sense to him, but I hit the play button on the song anyway and listen to join in to the song Changing Tides by the Fray.

_When the rain came_   
_It washed us out to sea_   
_I'm holding what I love_   
_And he's holding on to me_

_It's no surprise_   
_It brought me to my knees_   
_You're never really ready_   
_You're ready as can be_

_The sun was coming up_   
_We were sifting through the sand_   
_Looking for the pieces_   
_Of our broken plans_

_It's gonna take a while_   
_We're gonna get it back_   
_We gotta carry on darling_   
_We were built to last_

As I sing this song I think back on all the moments this year that have furthered our relationship and convey all my hopes for the future of it. The first was definitely the train ride to Hogwarts. I remember looking into his eyes while he listened to muggle music for what I believe was the first time, and seeing such a childlike wonder in them. He was so captivated by all of the stuff that muggles had done, and he hadn't even scraped the top of the iceberg yet.

_Changing tides_   
_Baby that's the hardest part of life_   
_Hold me tight_   
_And we will move as one in the changing tides_

_There's no doubt the beauty that we see_   
_Following the path, so much older than we_   
_Lovers built it with their hands, walked it with their feet_   
_Above the raging waters and the darkness underneath_

The second time that our relationship was furthered was when I taught him how to use his chromebook and set up his gmail account. He was acting very calm and didn't try to be cocky like usual. He was like a completely different person. It was like he actually wanted to learn how to do it properly and as efficiently as possible. I had a lot of fun teaching him and I felt needed. After that, we worked very well together in muggle studies and he always got really good marks.

_Changing tides_   
_Baby that's the hardest part of life_   
_Hold me tight_   
_And we will move as one in the changing tides_   
_And we will move as one in the changing tides_

_When the rain came_   
_It washed us out to sea_   
_I'm holding what I love_   
_And he's holding on to me_

_It's gonna take a while_   
_It's gonna come back_   
_We gotta carry on darling_   
_We were built to last_

One of the major things that furthered our relationship was the Halloween ball, and not just the ball, but the setup and planning of the event. It allowed us to learn more about how the other person thinks in terms of planning and style. I found out more about his eye for design and decorations due to his pureblood heritage, and he got to learn more about my creativity that I usually didn't show as it didn't have much to do with academics. Then the ball itself allowed us to discover even more about each other when we left after our performance. In fact, the performance also helped me feel even more connected with Draco as the song actually held personal meaning. That evening and the weeks leading up to it played a crucial part in where we are now.

_Changing tides_   
_Baby that's the hardest part of life_   
_Hold me tight_   
_And we will move as one in the changing tides_

_Changing tides_   
_And we will move as one in the changing_   
_And we will move as one in the changing tides_

I finish off the song and stop the music as it ends. I sit quietly for a moment, and silently pray that he would come out. That he would have the strength to escape from the cage of his memories, or at least reach back out to me. After a couple moments I get up to leave and let him have his space, but before I can leave I hear the door open and a warm hand grasp my forearm.

"Wait, Hermione, don't leave yet." I turn to see him standing in his doorway, his hair all messy, his shirt ruffled, and his eyes red and bloodshot. His voice sounds kind of rough, probably from lack of use, but I don't dwell on this for long. As soon as I see him I engulf him in a huge hug. At first he seems too shocked to respond, but slowly wraps his arms around me as well. We stand there for what seems like ages, but was probably only few moments. We cling to each other like we were drowning and the other person was a piece of driftwood. We pull away and just look at each other. Then he nuzzles his face on my shoulder and starts to cry a little bit.

"I'm sorry Hermione for leaving you by yourself for the last few days. I actually got over my mother's death near the beginning but like you said, her death triggered a whole bunch of memories and nightmares. Stuff I haven't had to deal with since the summer and I guess I'd gotten used to the lack of that type of brain activity.

Thanks for sticking by and sending me the food and notes. It was really nice how you made sure I knew what happened everyday, I enjoyed listening to you so much. I'm sorry I drifted away from you, I should have realized that you would know what I'm going through. At some point do you think we could just talk about that stuff over the next few days?" I look at him a little funny and he looks afraid for a second.

"Draco, you don't have to be sorry about any of this. None of us asked to join a war, that has mentally and physically scarred many adults mind you, while we were kids. We've all been subjugated to so much pain, loss, and death. It shouldn't have happened to us, and none of us deserved it. Also, I don't know what you're going through as well as you think. Every war story is so different, and unique. We all went through most of the events, but we were all changed in different ways. That's why it's so important to hear all the stories in a war before making judgement. I'm just glad you came back to me Draco, I love you so much."

We talk for a while longer, then head to bed when we realize that it's almost 1 in the morning. We say good night, then retire to our rooms. I lay down, happy that one of my now best friends has finally come back to me.

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Author's Note: Thanks for all of your support, I really appreciate feedback so please review. Have a great week, till next time.


	23. Fights, the Tower, & Waking Nightmares

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise, nor anything affiliated with it. I also do not own any songs used in this fic, all rights to those songs belong to the artists, go support their work on Youtube, Spotify, or other music platforms.

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Draco's POV

I finally handed in my muggle studies essay on my connection with a song and a movie. I connected with a song called Drifting by Plumb because of its similarity to the song that Hermione sang at my door the other day. I found while checking out this thing on YouTube called 'Mixes'. I had been listening to Changing Tides by the Fray for awhile and this song appeared on the mix list for it. I found that it conveyed what Hermione was trying to say to me even better than the song she originally sang. The song she used was great, but this song is a lot more epic in my opinion, and filled with more emotion.

Anyway, I did the music component of the essay on that song and gave my reasons why. I was originally reluctant to write about such a revealing part of me, but I figured she said she wouldn't share the essay content with anyone without permission and it helped clear my feelings and understand them better. In the end, I had to cut out some of the sections for this as there was too much to read.

The movie I connected to was How To Train Your Dragon since the prejudice towards dragons reminded me of the prejudice in the wizarding world. It's become one of my favourite topics to explore and try to understand. I also thought that the topic would be an easy one and would appeal to Professor Carrington since the purpose of everyone taking the class was to reduce prejudice and division between purebloods, half-bloods, and muggleborns.

Over the last few days I was able to get permission from Headmistress McGonagall to leave a couple hours at a time to pack up certain things in the mansion and make arrangements for the house while no one is taking care of it. In the end I hired a house elf to take care of the house, key word being hired. Bipsy is an elf with a limp from being injured in the battle of Hogwarts, but she really wanted to get work afterwards and is very good at dealing with finances. I'm fairly good at them myself but I don't have the time to do them while at Hogwarts. She really knows her stuff and she's taking care of the bills and simple stuff while one of my uncles is in charge of the family business till I graduate.

She also cooks all my favourite foods wonderfully. Over the few days I spent organizing the house and teaching Bipsy all the stuff she needs to know, I've become very fond of her. It sounds really silly, but the house elves actually have a very complex honour system, so they say what they need to without frills. It made conversation very easy and simple. Whereas my relatives tend to speak in riddles so it's easier to stab you in the back.

I've been back in the swing of things for the last week or so, but I still haven't had much time to spend with Hermione. We've both had to deal with little fights or issues in the different Hogwarts houses and have spent much of our time writing incident reports or dealing with a sudden influx of homework. I've wanted to talk to her, but we keep missing each other.

It's funny, we finally cleared up the whole issue of my mother's death, my past memories, and Hermione pulled me out of my shell once again, but we're being pulled right into another whirlwind of chaos. It's like the world is doing everything in its power to keep us apart after drawing us together.

I'm walking to lunch after dropping my books in my classes and I hear someone walk up behind me. I turn around hoping to see Hermione, but instead I see Pansy. She stands behind me looking shocked, as if she was trying to muster the courage to say something but she wasn't done preparing herself to actually do it yet. After taking a few deep breaths, she opened her mouth and spoke.

"Hey Draco, how are you? I was wondering if we could talk at some point soon. I have some questions and I want to clear them up as soon as possible." At first I'm a bit shocked, but I make sure it doesn't show. I haven't talked to Pansy since sixth year. During seventh year I avoided most people, though most people just avoided me anyway. I always suspected that she had a crush on me, but I never really liked her. She was cute and all, but she was also really stuck-up and petty. She always got concerned on such trivial stuff and some of the stuff she did to appear like the perfect pureblood was disgusting. She's one of the few purebloods who haven't quite let their prejudices go yet and it's not doing her grades any favours.

"Um sure, Pansy. I can owl you about appropriate times that I can meet up, I have to check my calendar to see when I'm free." The words are out of my mouth before I can really think about it. I silently berate myself for agreeing to meet up with her. Maybe we'll both forget and it won't happen.

She let out a huge sigh of relief before responding. "Thank you so much Draco, it means a lot to me." Then she leaves me to go back to the hall and have lunch. I sit down in my usual seat with Blaise, Luna, Neville, and Ginny. I keep the disappointment off of my face when I see that Hermione isn't here, but I can't help but feel sad.

"Blaise, do you know where Hermione is?" I ask.

"No, I haven't seen her since muggle studies. I assumed she was with you." He replies without looking up from his food. I do see a hint of a smirk on his face though.

"Oh, well I haven't seen her since 2nd period ended. I didn't even pass her when I left to drop my books off in our rooms. I assume she has to write and file another report. Some of the stuff the kids in the younger grades do makes me feel disgusted.

Yesterday I had to stop a fight between two Gryffindors who were fighting because one of them had been harrassing the other's friend and made extremely rude and provocative comments. They were dealing some pretty nasty hexes and curses, and the girl who had been harassed was nearby and almost unconscious due to getting hit with a stray hex from the main offender. They all ended up having to take a trip to the hospital wing since it took a while to break up the fight safely. Some of the curses were bordering on Dark magic."

"That's awful, I can't believe someone would actually do that!" says Ginny

"Uh-huh, people can be disgusting sometimes. What's their punishment?" asks Neville. I agree with all of them. After understanding the issues I used to face when I was younger and realizing that a lot of the stuff I did was bad, I find it so much easier to see bullying around me. I can see how bad it is and how petty it is. It's just awful and I can't believe I actually did any of that stuff.

"Well the girl obviously has no punishment and her defender got off with just a 20 point deduction and a week of detention with the Headmistress. The main boy in trouble has got detention till the end of the year, expelled from the Quidditch team, 100 points have been taken from Gryffindor, he's to help Professor Snape gather potions materials from the Forbidden Forest, and he's been given patrol duty with Flich. I wanted to give him more punishments, but McGonagall said there wasn't much more we could do short of expulsion which she's hesitant about."

"People can be very cruel. However, punishment is not always the answer. The only thing that really works is making people understand. That's why the muggle studies class has worked so well. By understanding how muggles live, how they're human, and how they thrive, it's a lot harder to hate them just for being what they are. We can now appreciate what they are and their ways."

I look at Luna as she says this. She doesn't usually speak much so I'm a little surprised. Sometimes she can say really crazy things, but she also has very wise bits of information. When she says something meaningful, you had better listen. That's why I like hanging out with her, the other reason is her innocence. She still seems pure, even after the war and all the pain that's crippled almost everyone else. She's somehow managed to hold onto her childhood and I admire her so much for it. And even though she has her innocence, she has all the wisdom of a woman four times her age. I personally think that Luna didn't get into Ravenclaw for her intelligence, though she has that too contrary to popular belief, but for her emotional smarts and her wisdom. She knows exactly what to say to comfort people and help them keep going.

"Yeah, the kids in the younger generations have no idea what stuff like that can turn into. Of course they know about the war and it's almost definitely affected them, but they will never understand it the way we do. We've seen the horrors that this stuff can turn into and it's sickening to watch the same things happen now, that we did just a couple years ago." Blaise took the words right out of my mouth. The main thing going through my head when I caught the kid wasn't anger, it was shame. I was ashamed because if no one had helped me understand, I would probably be doing similar things. In fact I did many despicable things because of people's blood status. Stuff that I greatly regret now.

Even though I wish I never had to live through that bloody war, I'm glad that I did. If only for the fact that it's led me here. It's made me wake up and mature, made me wiser about the problems in the world. My generation has been gifted with the power to change it all, and understand exactly why we need to. We're at the age where we can start influencing Wizarding society in such a powerful way and it's completely justified. No one should have had to live through that war, especially kids, and we will do everything in our power to prevent such a thing from happening again.

We spend the next few minutes discussing the issue, but I find myself drifting from the conversation. I'm snapped out of my reverie when Luna taps my shoulder.

"Draco, you can leave if you want to. I know you want to go find her, you should go before lunch break finishes. Don't worry, I'll explain why you're leaving." I smile at her in thanks and gather my stuff before leaving the hall. I pass by a couple of Ravenclaws gossiping about how hot Neville is and I stifle a chuckle. It's funny, even though he wasn't very attractive in his earlier years, he's turned out to be quite the lady charmer complete with good looks. He was actually named Witch Weekly's 3rd most eligible bachelor from the 8th year generation, with Ron being 2nd and me being 1st. The only reason Potter wasn't on the list is because he's dating Ginny. However, the Prophet has caught wind that Ron is now single, though they don't know the specifics so they didn't have a lot of information. They still think I'm single and though I guess it's not entirely official, I still think of Hermione as my girlfriend. Many of the girls in the school were very disappointed after they saw me with Hermione during the Halloween ball.

I climb the stairs two steps at a time, careful not to slip and make sure that the stairs don't start moving before I get to my destination. I finally make it to the astronomy tower and find Hermione sitting on the edge of the tower on the ground and looking out the window. She has a navy blue cloak wrapped around her shoulders and a booklet of report slips in her hands. Next to her on the ground lies a plate of half eaten food and a glass of pumpkin juice. Her hair is blowing in such an ethereal way with the sun illuminating it in such a way that it seems like it's made of gold. She looks so peaceful, sitting looking out the window. I carefully walk over to her and sit down to let my legs dangle as well. She doesn't say anything when I do, instead she just rests her hand on top of mine on the floor.

I always feel nervous sitting here as it's so high off the ground, but then I remember the wards they placed so you can't actually fall. They placed those wards after someone attempted suicide by jumping off a number of years ago. One of the benefits is that you can actually sit here now and feel the cool air, but not have to worry about falling. The other reason I feel uneasy is that it reminds me of when I almost killed Dumbledore. It was fine the last two times I came up here with Hermione because I was so caught up in the moment and occupied by my thoughts about her to remember this. Now however, the memories are creeping back to me and I don't really know what to do.

I start to feel really cold as the scene around me changes. The golden light of the noon day sun is replaced by the dark clouds of that night. The warmth of the tower is replaced by the chills of death. The calm he felt around Hermione was replaced by the feeling of fear and regret. The stability of Hermione's hand on his was replaced by the trembling of his hand on his wand as it pointed at his headmaster. The sound of the birds and rustling of the trees were replaced by the sound of nothing, emptiness. I shudder as the memories of that night takes over my senses. Everything is changing around me and there's nothing I can do, just like there was nothing I could do that night but follow Voldemort's orders. The only difference between that night and now was the girl standing next to the headmaster. There next to Dumbledore was Hermione, her eyes filled with sadness and betrayal.

_"How could you do this Draco? You promised me you changed! I comforted you so many times, but you're just like your father. Nothing but a failure, nothing but a slave to follow a master till your death. I can't believe I ever considered you my friend."_

At the back of my head I could hear a voice telling me that this wasn't real. That this was just a memory turned nightmare. That none of this was true. But the voice was too quiet and her words were like swords, slashing through my defences before I could realize what was happening. I started crying and pleading with her.

_"Wait Hermione, what are you talking about? I haven't done anything. I swear I've changed, I would never hurt you. Please come back."_

_"No Draco, you did hurt me. You hurt me like no one else, you might as well just kill me now before I suffer any longer at your hands."_

_"Hermione why are you saying this? What's goi-" The rest of my sentence was cut short as at that moment Snape arrived. But instead of killing Dumbledore, Snape turned to Hermione and cast 'Sectumsempra'. She screamed and fell to the floor, a huge gash appearing on her torso like the one Potter gave me almost 2 years ago, but there was nothing I could do to stop any of it._

Then all of a sudden I'm pulled out of this nightmare back to the tower. I'm still standing where I was before, but my face is covered in sweat and Hermione has gotten up to come over to me with a look of concern on her face. Before I can open my mouth to tell her nothing happened she shushes me.

"I heard you come in but when I turned around you were just standing there really still and staring into space. You've been like that for less than 5 minutes in case you were wondering."

All I can do is just nod in acknowledgement. I'm too shaken by what I had just seen to really respond in any intelligible way. She looks at me for a few moments as I sit up and try to calm my breathing and wipe the sweat off of my face.

"Draco, did this have anything to do with what happened here last year?" Her words are carefully said, and I admire the fact that she says it in as gentle a way as possible. I nod, and she immediately gathers her stuff as well as mine and levitates them next to her as she comes over to hug me. She gets me to lean on her and we left promptly. She doesn't say anything else but helps me to our dorm and to my bedroom. She then leaves me with a few instructions.

"Look I know you probably want some quiet time right now, but if you need to talk to me while I'm in class just take this galleon, it has a Protean charm on it, and spell help on the side. I have one that will send the message to me and I'll leave to meet you here. I've already told the Headmistress that you're unwell right now and will have to miss classes. I recommend you take a shower seeing as how sleep is probably the last thing on your mind right now. There is some soup in the fridge, just heat it up in the microwave for about 2 minutes if you want it.

Um… well, I have to get to class now but don't hesitate to send me a message if you need to. Bye" With that she leaves me on my bed holding the galleon she gave me.

Once I hear Hermione leave the room, I get up and grab my towel before walking into the bathroom. I avoid looking in the mirror, because I'm scared to see what might stare back at me, but get undressed to take her advice of a shower. I go straight to the shower stall and focus on the water falling down my shoulders. The constant beating of the droplets allows me to forget everything that had happened that day; for a moment I just exist.

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Author's Note: I was listening through some of my older music and I came across the song mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, Drifting by Plumb, and I was so sad that found it after I had written the chapter. I prefer it to the song that I used, but I couldn't exactly change it. Give it a listen, it's amazing. Again thanks for all your support, but I would love to hear feedback from you guys as well. Have a great week, till next time.


	24. Passports, Airplanes, & a Love of Flight

Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter franchise, nor anything afffiliated with it.

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Hermione's POV

It's only been a couple of days since that afternoon in the Astronomy tower, but Draco's moved past it very quickly. He's only missed that one afternoon of class and hasn't had any other 'episodes' since, at least that I know about. He looks as healthy as ever, but I can't help but feel worried about him. I know what it's like to relive old memories, I also know how easy it is to hide it all if you've had as much practise as him. He's spent his whole life hiding emotion and any signs of weakness just like I have. The only difference is that if his mask broke, he would have either been tortured or killed. That's one of the things I admire about him. Even though he had one of the worst lives ever, he never cracked and never let Voldemort win completely. He rebelled in small ways, ways that seem insignificant to an outsider but are mountainous to a person who understands.

I've gotten up earlier than usual this morning and I'm pretty much finished with getting ready. It's about 7:30, which is when I usually wake up, but Draco hasn't come down yet. I know he's awake since I heard him in the bathroom but he isn't in the common room like usual. I sit down and pull out my notes for our exams. Hogwarts was originally tri-semestered with exams at the end of the year, but McGonagall has been experimenting with different things this year so we've adopted the system of having four subjects for each of two semesters with exams at the end of each one. I focus back on my notes and re-highlight certain parts. When I study, I write really detailed notes. Then I go back and take notes on those notes to refine them. Then I'll create an overview test on my notes and test myself like that. That way I'm learning it a couple times, then applying it to an actual set of questions.

I look at the clock and see that it's been about 20 minutes. Draco and I usually leave for breakfast at 8, so I go up and knock on his door to see what's happening with him. After a couple minutes of banging on his door he answers it looking rather dishevelled. His hair is messy like Harry's was in his younger years, his shirt is slightly crumpled, and his tie is askew. Not to mention his eyes are bleary and he has bags under his eyes. With a yawn he starts to speak.

"Hermione what are you knocking on my door at…" He glances down at his watch to check the time and then practically jumps out of his skin. "Wait it's almost 8 already! But I got ready earlier, what happened?"

"You probably fell asleep after that. Draco, how much sleep have you been getting in the past few days? Actually what about the past couple of weeks?" He takes a little longer to answer because he has to count it up quickly.

"Well I go to bed around 11:30 and get up at 6, so 6.5 hours."

"Draco! You can't do that and not have any consequences. My only question is how you've gone so long without any visible changes in your outlook till now. Wait, is 11:30 when you go to bed or when you actually fall asleep."

"Hermione, you don't have to keep asking me questions. I already know I have insomnia and nothing I've tried has worked." His bluntness shocks me then I realize he's probably really tired so his brain is doing weird things, or as I have titled that kind of behaviour, sleep drunk. I'm kind of shocked that he knew where I was trying to lead the conversation. I tried use non-leading questions, but I guess he saw through my ruse. I've been worried about him having insomnia because the war and the psychological effect I know it had on his mind. I had insomnia as well for awhile, but it's settled for the time being. I've also had less nightmares and more regular dreams. Anyway, I know he's been having nightmares and I'm pretty sure it's more than he's had for the last while. I look at him in concern before addressing him again.

"You had better freshen up quickly, we need to get to breakfast soon if you don't want to be late for class." He nods then closes the door to get ready. I walk back down to the common room and pack up my notes. After placing them in my beaded purse I put my shoes on and wait by the door. Draco soon comes down after about 5 minutes and looks a lot better. He must have used a glamour charm because his skin looks a lot better and the bags are all gone. Thankfully we're only put off schedule by about 10 minutes so we still have enough time to eat and get to class.

When we reach the classroom, Professor Carrington calls us in and we take our seats like usual. I pull out my muggle studies folder from my purse as well as a pen. She stands up in front of the class and then addresses us.

"Today we're going to be doing something slightly different. Seeing as how the unit we're going to be starting today is transportation, I've arranged for us to floo down to muggle London and take a small airplane flight from Heathrow airport to Manchester airport. From there we'll floo back here. The trip will take all day, but I've already given your teachers a heads up and asked that they excuse from class.

The flight itself is only a hour, but we have to allow about 1 hour to get to the airport from Diagon Alley, an hour and a half to get through security, 1 hour for the flight, 1 hour for customs and immigration check on the other end, and another hour to travel to the floo point. If we have time I may let you all have some free time to explore the airport in Manchester. I have already planned ahead and gotten some travel sickness potions and calming draughts from Madame Pomfrey so that we all can go. Are there any questions?" She looks around but only one person has their hands raised. "Yes Ms. Parkinson?"

"You mean to tell me that we're going to be sitting in a metal shell shaped like a bird for an hour with muggles, sit in a bus with muggles, and go through a muggle infested building? I can't believe we have to put up with this!" Half the class stares at her incredulously. Most of the students at Hogwarts have been quite fascinated with Muggle stuff and have gotten over their prejudices but there are a few students who haven't. Like Pansy.

"Ms. Parkinson, your current attitude is exactly why this class is mandatory in the first place. You would do well to not be so prejudiced if you want to pass this class. Also, if you actually tried to do the work in this class and learnt what you were supposed to, you might find that muggles aren't so bad after all. Many of the things they have accomplished without magic is marvellous. There are some things even we can't do." Pansy just turns red before ignoring everyone. I feel bad for Ernie, he has to put up with all of her nonsense and try his best to teach her or he risks a low mark.

"Well if that's it, we have to prepare for the trip. There are some things you can bring, and some things you can't. Phones, earbuds, and other electronics are okay in fact I encourage you to bring them as you may get bored. I want everyone to pick two people to sit next to during the flight and one person to sit next to on the buses. You are responsible for making sure your buddy doesn't get lost.

We can't bring any sharp objects or liquids. You can bring a water bottle but you have to empty it before we get to security." A couple students look a little confused at the mention of security but they don't bother asking about it. "Make sure you bring a small bag with you to put loose articles in. I recommend you bring a notebook to take observations or notes. I will be asking you all to write a short writing piece on today's journey so try and pay attention. I will dismiss you all in a moment to pack or get something, but just remember nothing sharp or anything that can be used as a weapon, and keep your luggage to a minimum. I will provide lunch when we get to Manchester.

Alright you may leave now, I just need you all back here in about half an hour."

We're about to get up when she suddenly stops us again. With many sighs and groans of frustration, we sit down.

"I forgot to mention, we will need passports for the flight. For the muggleborns and half-bloods, I know many of you carry them with you in case of emergencies. For those of you who don't, I contacted your parents and had them owl them over. For the purebloods, I was able to secure some for you through McGonagall, please don't lose them as we may use them more throughout the year." She then hands out the passports and dismisses us.

We all quickly get up and leave to pack. I practically run up to my room because I'm really excited. Flying in an airplane for me is amazing. I love being up that high and I feel safer in a plane than on a broom. Much safer. I've always wanted to fly ever since I was a child but seeing as how I couldn't, I took the next best option, airplanes. Even though I have motion sickness, the feeling of being in the air and looking at the clouds is so wonderful. The view is simply amazing and it's really cool to see different places in the world.

Once I get to my room I grab my laptop from it's charging spot and put my binders and textbooks on my bookshelf after removing my exam notes. I root around my trunk to find my passport at the bottom in a very small pocket. I place my laptop, notebook, my passport, a book I bought a couple weeks ago, and my notes in my purse after removing the more sharp/weapon-like objects from my purse. When I put the extension charm on my purse I made sure that I also put a few charms on it that would make it look like a laptop bag to muggles, would hide any magical objects from sight, and that would make the x-ray appear as it did to muggles. It took me awhile to develop the charms, but it proved very handy for travelling and meant that I could use it all of the time. I quickly re-sling my purse over my shoulder and go knock on Draco's door to see if he's ready.

He answers the door and immediately asks if I could come in with him. I take a step in and see that his room is extremely neat. It seems like he's completely organized it since I last saw him. His bed is perfectly made, his bookshelf is organized by author in alphabetical order and then by height, and his desk has a stack of parchment in one corner and a pencil holder with the stationary perfectly placed. I can't help but stare at it in wonder. I've always tried to organize my room like this, but it's always failed. It will be fairly neat the first couple of days, then get steadily messier before the next re-organizing session.

"Hermione, what were we supposed to pack again and what were we not supposed to bring?" He asks.

"You need to bring something to occupy yourself with, something to take notes in, your passport, ideally a water bottle that you can empty before security and then fill up again later, I recommend bringing some muggle cash as well, and put it all in a relatively small bag that can fit any other small objects. A smaller bag will make security easier to get through.

He starts to gather his stuff together as I'm speaking and puts it all into his usual messenger bag. He puts his binder on his shelf and I notice that he has a shelf devoted school stuff like I do. The only difference is that he organizes his work by subject then year, whereas I sort it by year then subject. Once he's one, he slings his bag over his shoulder and we both leave together.

We get down to our classroom before most people and wait for the rest to arrive. I ask Draco if I can see his passport because I'm curious to know how they got them without going to the embassy in London. The passport photo is his school photo from the beginning of the year, that explains how they got a photo, and I guess they must have a program with the Ministry of Magic to do this kind of stuff for wizards who want to travel the muggle way. I examine his passport for a little while longer before handing it back. Once I do, he asks if he can see mine. I comply and rummage around for it in my purse before handing it over. He looks at it for a couple of minutes and compares it to his own. He then hands it back and we just sit in silence till everyone arrives. At that moment Professor Carrington gets up to speak.

"All right, are we missing anyone?" There are few chorused 'no's and shaking of heads. "In that case, if you could pick you pairs for the bus trips and the flights."

"Professor, didn't you say that we would be in groups of 3 for the flight?"

"Yes I did Hannah, but it turns out our tickets were booked for the window sections and those seats are in pairs. It makes it easier anyway in terms of groups because our class is easily separated into partners. Now, does everyone have their passports?" Again there is a chorus, but this time of 'yes's. "Okay if we have everyone and everyone has their passports we can move on now. We will taking the floo through Headmistress McGonagall's office to Diagon Alley where we will then take a chartered bus from there to Heathrow Airport. I'll fill you guys in on the trip details as we go along. I would also like to see Draco and Hermione once we get to the Headmistress's office." She says this as we leave the classroom and soon we are in the hallway. We all walk as a clump to McGonagall's office and climb up the stairs in single file as they are too narrow to do otherwise.

Once we get up the students travel one at a time and Professor Carrington pulls Draco and I aside to talk to us. "Alright, here is a physical copy of our itinerary for the trip with booking details. Make sure you don't lose this. As the Head's, you are the backup leaders for this trip if something goes wrong. I'm not of the opinion that it would, but it's just for safety/security reasons. Here is a flask of polyjuice potion and a couple of my hairs if you need to do something like a thumbprint for anything or you need to impersonate me at some point. Here is a copy of our boarding passes. Just remember that if something goes wrong, the safety of all these students are your priority. I have no doubt that you will both know what to do if it comes to that. Can I count on you guys for this?"

Draco and I both nod and take a set each of the items she's giving us and place them in our bags. We then walk over to the dwindling line of students to floo to Diagon Alley. I go first when it's time to go through, with Draco following closely behind me. We step out and join the group of students waiting for our teacher. Once she comes out we all walk as a group and find the bus on the muggle streets. Many of the purebloods shrink back due to the noise and chaos of the streets and cars. Some of them look really nervous, and to be honest I'm kind of skittish around cars so I don't blame them. We board the bus and though most of the students relax a bit, some of them are still a little nervous. Once we are seated Professor Carrington passes out potions to kids who need it for motion sickness, under the label of medicine since the bus driver is a muggle, and then we start moving.

Draco and I sit next to each other but don't talk much. I pull out my notes and study while he pulls out a sudoku book. After a little while I put in my earbuds and read. It's been about 45 minutes into our hour long journey when he speaks up.

"Hermione, how big are airplanes?"

"Well it depends on the size of the airplane. The one we are travelling on is an Airbus A320, which is about the length of about 2.75 large school busses. It's fairly small compared to some other planes, but still pretty big when you look at it. The largest airplane from the Airbus company is two times the size of the one we're going to be flying in today."

"Wow, that's pretty big. Have you ever flown on an airplane?"

"Yeah, I used to love flying on them when I was a kid. My parents often went to dentist conferences and I'd get to go with them. The last time I went on an airplane was about 4-5 years ago I think."

"Do you miss it? Being up in the air?"

"Of course. It's one of my biggest dreams to fly. To be up in the clouds looking down at the earth. I don't miss the motion sickness though, that was brutal. I wasn't able to swallow pills, so I had to have the liquid medicines instead. They are so bitter that it makes me want to throw up. I eventually got over the taste but it was still horrible."

"If you miss flying so much, why don't you ride brooms? In fact, I don't think I've seen you even touch a broom since our first class in first year."

"I like flying, but I don't feel safe on brooms. They feel unsteady to me and it doesn't seem safe to be sitting on a stick with barely anything to hold onto. If I was to fly, the perfect experience for me would be if I could have flight as a 'superpower'. I want to be able to just fly at the drop of a hat without the aid of an object. I wish there was a charm or spell for it. I've spent many hours researching it, but they haven't invented one yet."

"Wow, that's pretty cool. However, I'm sure that if anyone can find or create a spell like that, it would be you." I blush as he says this.

"Thanks Draco. You know I'm glad we've become friends, sorry, un-official girlfriend and boyfriend. I really like talking to you. We actually have pretty deep conversations, compared to when I used to talk to Harry and Ron. Wait, are we still girlfriend and boyfriend?" I kind of panic as I'm not sure if he wanted to take a break from it because of his mother's death or his nightmares. I hope I haven't offended him or anything.

"No, we're still girlfriend and boyfriend. Don't worry, nothing's changed." He looks like he's about to say something else, but we've reached our destination and Professor Carrington has called for our attention.

"Alright, now that we're here we have to check in. We are early but it will still be kind of busy. Follow closely and keep your 'quills' in your bags." I can tell she's referring to our wands, but I'm not sure everyone else does so I mouth 'wands' to the ones that look confused. They nod in acknowledgement and I sit back down. "We are going to check-in at section A-13 in Terminal 5. If you get lost, find a help desk and tell them that you are travelling with a group of students from Woodside High School and to make an announcement for Ms. Carrington."

With that, we step out of the bus onto the sidewalk drop off area. We all shield our eyes from the glaring reflection of the sun off of the glass windows of Terminal 5.

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Author's Note: The years have been shifted forward from their original timeline to accommodate the inclusion of muggle technology, however they chronology is still the same. I'm planning on adding a bit more action not too much, but just enough to spice it up a bit more. Thanks for reading and all of your support. Please review! Have a great week, till next time.


	25. Sleep Deprivation, Bombs, & Masks

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise nor anything affiliated with it.

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Draco's POV

We are lined up at the airport in the group check-in line, waiting for the staff to open up the counter. I'm pretty tired so my thoughts start to drift back to this morning.

This morning started off pretty rotten. I had another nightmare last night, and they haven't been going away. I've been getting very little sleep as of late, and it's never restful. Overall I probably only sleep about 4 hours every night, and it's quite light. My insomnia has come back just like it was in sixth year. Every night since that day on the astronomy tower, I've had nightmares constantly. It wasn't so bad after my mother died, but that must have started it. Anyway, I must have fallen asleep after I got changed and I went to get my phone from under my pillow. I was woken up for the second time, but this was by Hermione banging on my door. My first thought was 'why is she knocking on my door this early?'. I assumed that my alarm hadn't gone off yet, and that it must have been 5 something. Then she asked why I wasn't down yet and I saw that it was almost 8. I was two hours late!

I had panicked and splashed some water on my face before realizing just how terrible I looked. I had ridiculously pale skin, even for me, and my eyes had huge purple tinted bags. My eyes themselves were red and my hair looked really messy. I then quickly placed a glamour charm on myself to look less dead on the outside. After that I straightened out my shirt and stuffed my binder in my bag before running down to meet Hermione. We put our shoes on before walking, at a faster pace than usual, down to breakfast.

Class started off like usual and my mind had started to wander. Sometimes when teachers talk I find it very hard to concentrate. It's not their fault it's just that I know that they will be talking about school work, and that it will probably boring, so there is no need for me to pay attention. I'm pretty good at picking up what we're doing anyway so it hasn't been a problem yet. The other reason I lose focus is that when I'm really tired I have a hard time keeping my thoughts organized like usual. They just don't fit together and I lose each thought amongst a weird static feeling in my head.

This morning I was lost in thought about a song I was listening to last night. I was trying to remember how it went when I heard the teacher say something about an 'airplane'. I lifted my head up and tried to figure out what was going on. Hermione picked up on me daydreaming and not paying attention, so like usual, she passed me a small paper with a brief summary of what's happened so far. As I read it I started to feel kind of confused because I didn't know what most of the terminology meant. All I knew was that we were going on some sort of field trip to an 'airport' and then coming back.

I looked at her with a confused expression but she didn't notice so I quietly pulled out my textbook and tried to find out what these things were using the index. I quickly skimmed the text there and found out that airplanes are sort of like big metal birds that can hold a large amount of people and keep them in the air so they can travel, with the help of large engines. You can fly in one by purchasing a ticket and going to an airport. It didn't make complete sense, but I wasn't as confused as I was previously.

Professor Carrington then said something about 'passports' and I was passed a small burgundy book that said 'European Union - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Passport' and had a crest in the middle. I looked inside it and saw a photo of myself as well as details about me like my full name, date of birth, sex, nationality, date issued, and the expiry date of the passport. The page with all of those details was kind of hard and shiny, but the following pages were like regular blank paper.

All of a sudden everyone was getting up to leave and I felt really lost. Hermione seemed really excited so she left very quickly and darted out the door. I quickly scrambled to gather my stuff before sprinting out after her seeing as how I didn't know what was going on. I soon found her on our usual route to get to our dorms.

We finally got up to our room and she just ran up to her room and slammed the door shut. I heard her rustling around in there quite a bit, so I just walked into my room and sat down for a bit. Based on the note Hermione gave me, the passport, what I remembered from Professor Carrington's little speech, and what I read in the textbook, I gathered that we were going on some sort of trip. I highly doubted that we would be going for more than a day, so we probably just needed to bring a couple of small items. I realize that she probably had said a list, but I didn't catch that.

I was about to step out of my room and ask Hermione if she could tell me what I missed, when she knocked on my door. I walked over from my desk and opened it to see her standing at my door in more muggle looking clothes and her hair in a smarter ponytail as supposed to her usual bushy madness. I asked if she could come in and she did. She stared at my room for a little and almost seemed to be in awe. Eventually I got her attention again by asking what I was supposed to pack.

"You need to bring something to occupy yourself with, something to take notes in, your passport, ideally a water bottle that you can empty before security and then fill up again later, I recommend bringing some muggle cash as well, and put it all in a relatively small bag that can fit any other small objects. A smaller bag will make security easier to get through."

As she spoke, I had gathered my stuff and put it all in my messenger bag after pulling my binder out and placing it on my shelf. I double checked that I had everything and closed it up. After I finished that we walked into the halls and headed to our class again. On the way while Hermione walked in front of me, I decided to transfigure my clothes into more muggle looking attire seeing as how I knew we would be going to a muggle place.

I'm pulled back to the present when the line starts moving again. I'm standing next to Hermione in line and decide to look at the architecture of the area. There are windows everywhere including the ceiling and as a result, the area seems extremely bright. The whole place is so white and clean. There's a funny smell in here, like it's too clean. It has a synthetic smell that just reeks hospital and sickness to me. I try to take my mind off of that by observing the planes outside, in the opposite direction from where we came. They look so huge, and I find myself skeptical of the fact that they can actually make it off the ground, with people inside it as well.

As I think about all these things we move further through the line till we make it to the front and finally to the desk. The lady at the desk asks for all our passports to check with our faces and we all get through without a hitch. Once we are done we walk out to go down the main hallway by the entrance to go around to the main gates that will lead us to security. We are near the front doors that we walked through to get inside from the bus when all of a sudden there is a huge explosion outside.

The bus we were just in about 20 minutes ago, the bus that hadn't left after it dropped us off, was engulfed in an orange fireball as shrapnel flew everywhere. The surrounding cars also exploded and so did another couple of buses further down the terminal stretch. Security around us was thrown into a frenzy and people started yelling and screaming in panic. Half of our group started panicking or just had a glazed expression on their faces and I knew exactly why.

It wasn't because a bomb had just gone off, though that was one of the causes. It reminded them of the war. All the screams and panic were trying to pull me back there as well but I slammed those thoughts to the back of my mind as fast as possible. I tried to focus on my responsibilities, reminding myself that I had a job to protect my classmates and get us out of here alive.

Professor Carrington turned to Hermione and I with a look of fear as well as one of fierce determination.

"Hermione, Draco, remember what I said earlier. Take care of the students. I need to figure out what's going on and see if I can help. You guys can't help the way that I can, your wands will be too obvious and I don't want you all being investigated by security when they have so much to deal with. Now go and take care of them."

Hermione and I nod and hurriedly guide our fellow classmates to a back corner from where our check-in desk was. As we guide them there there is another explosion right where our professor ran off to, and a couple of other spots in the terminal itself. The heat of the blasts is so much more intense when we're right next to it. I cast a quick shield charm at the same time as Hermione to protect us and our classmates from debris. I have to fight back a cry of frustration and anger at possibly losing another person that I knew in such a violent way. I turn to Hermione and see my hurt and frustration mirrored in her eyes. With unspoken communication we turn back to our class with the goal of protecting all of them from this.

We get our classmates to the corner as quickly as possible before they can ask any questions. Working quickly together, we cast a disillusionment charm our classmates and set up some wards around them. We get the students to stay in there and cast a muffliato so they can't hear what's going on. Then we leave them with a portkey that will take them to Hogwarts in 1 minute, so that they'll get back there as soon as possible without the need for apparating or the floo network, with Neville in charge.

We are both thinking the same thing as we do all this. That we have to help everyone around us since we can, but we also have to protect our classmates. As we leave them and run back there is suddenly another wave of explosions. I grab Hermione and pull her down, using myself to shield her under me as pieces of glass rain down on us. I wait for the impact of the debris but nothing falls. I look up and see that Hermione's put up a shield charm. I thank her through my eyes and quickly help her up. We keep running and try to put out the fires as we go by them or at least prevent them from spreading by transfiguring the glass into sand to dampen the flames.

As we run I notice a couple of black robes and white masks and I start to slow down and freeze. No, not now. Not here. I start to feel panic rising inside of me but suddenly I feel a sharp sting on my cheek. I look around to see where it came from and see Hermione looking at me with a concerned expression as well as her hand raised from slapping me. I notice the small tendrils of fear creeping in her eyes and I'm sure that the same is true for my eyes as well.

"I'm sorry I slapped you, but we don't have time for either of us to panic right now. Before you say anything, I saw them too. You aren't crazy, there are Death Eaters here. They're probably responsible for this whole mess."

Her words shake me a bit when all of a sudden I hear a laugh coming from behind me, joined soon by another. The laughs of two people who have been in Azkaban and have gone crazy because of it. The laughs of two people who used to love torturing students. The laughs that used to haunt my dreams as well as my everyday life back in seventh year.

Hermione's words may have scared me, but those laughs chill me to the core and I feel my panic start to seep into my bones.

"Aw, how cute. Draco Malfoy associating and being comforted by a mudblood, even better, one of Harry Potter's accomplices. A member of the Golden Trio and the Order of the Phoenix!"

"I guess the rumours were true after all Amycus! The Malfoy's have gotten soft and have become blood traitors."

I snap my head around to see the ghastly grins of Alecto and Amycus Carrow.

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Author's Note: I hope y'all are okay with the turn I've taken with this bit. I just wanted to put in a bit more action before my next bit, also I really enjoyed writing this kind of stuff. Thanks for all your support, but please review. I would love to have some feedback or critisism, you can't get through life without it. Have a great week all of you, till next time!


	26. Determination, Distraction, & Adrenaline

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise, nor anything affiliated with it.

Author's Note: **Warning! This chapter contains some minor violence!** It shouldn't be any more violent than the Harry Potter series, but I want to air on the side of caution. I'm a little too used to action so I'm not sure how most people view it.

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Hermione's POV

This was not supposed to happen. We weren't supposed to lose Professor Carrington, we weren't supposed to have to take charge, we weren't supposed to have to experience violence like this ever again, and we definitely weren't supposed to come face to face with Death Eaters. Not here, not now, and certainly not after everything we've already gone through. Yet here we are now, with carnage everywhere and the weight of the world being thrust upon us once again. Here we are, being thrown back into a battle when we thought we were done.

I feel bad for reprimanding Draco earlier. His almost panic attack was very much warranted and right now I feel right on the verge of my own. I struggle to press my jumbled thoughts down and keep my head above it all. The looks on the faces of Alecto and Amycus don't help me either. They leer at us and spew hate. They insult me and my heritage, my friends, and my family. They insult Draco and his choices, his mother and his cowardness.

I try to block it all out because their words hit too close to home but it's very hard. With a quick glance at Draco I see that he's feeling similarly torn up inside. His fear stirs up determination in me. I don't want to die today, I don't want him to die today, and if we do, I sure as hell ain't letting them do it without putting up a fight.

I switch my mindset from panic to planning. With a glance around I see that the rest of the Death Eaters are starting to crowd around us, but haven't quite reached us yet. All of them are dressed in their black robes, and everyone except for the twins wear their ghastly masks. However, there seem to be no muggles in our immediate vicinity and no one seems to see what's going on here. They must have put up some sort of muggle repelling charm to prevent them from seeing us. I guess it means that they can do what they want with us without fear of outside interference.

It also means that perhaps this was wasn't just a coincidence, but perhaps a deliberate attack on us as a class. Perhaps this was a deliberate attack on Draco or me or anyone who was involved in the war.

"Hey Amycus, what say we teach the blood traitor a lesson, huh? I'm sure he'll be begging for mercy after a dozen _crucios_. Maybe we can even have bit of fun with the mudblood. I'd love to hear her screams under the influence of some of our own special curses, no?" I fight to keep the fear off of my face and keep up a front of determination and strength. Years of practice allow me to do it with relative ease, but I'm not quite sure if it's entirely convincing.

"Wonderful idea Alecto, perhaps we should warm them up first with a couple of Severus's curses? I believe that he had one in particular, _Sectumsempra_, that creates some very interesting results. Something about it having the effect of an invisible sword slicing across the recipient. There should be quite a lot of blood." I see Draco stiffen at the mention of that particular curse and I remember that Harry used that on him in sixth year. It was so horrifying that Harry felt guilt-ridden for weeks after that. I shudder at the thought of possibly seeing or experiencing it for myself.

While they debate what to do with us I realize that if we have any hope of getting out of here, we have to make a move, and we have to make it soon. I start to formulate a plan in my head by I still don't have a way to take down all the Death Eaters in an efficient way. I look around us to try and find something I can use. I could take any of the items or wreckage around us and use expulso at it to get it to explode, but I don't think that it'll have that much of an effect on all of them.

As I glance at the semi-complete circle, I notice a small silver canister that can only be one of the bombs they used underneath a nearby set of seats. From the look of it, I'd guess that it's a fuel air explosive, or FAE. It makes sense for the Death Eaters to choose it considering the size of the explosions and how barbaric the effects of it are. They are legal in warfare, but are cautioned against use for the sole reason that they cause unnecessary suffering. The thought of just how many people must be suffering right now because of them sickens me to the core and makes me want to fight even harder.

I turn to Draco and mouth 'cover me' to him. He doesn't nod or say anything, but acknowledges me with his eyes. He casts a quick _stupefy_ at the twins before sending combinations of _petrificus totalus, expelliarmus, incarcerous, impedimenta, relashio_ and _confundo _to the other Death Eaters gathered. At the back of my mind I take note of how he only uses spells that will disable or incapacitate them and not really hurt them, but I'm too distracted to fully register it.

I then lunge between two Death Eaters and roll out of the way using a technique I picked up from Tonks during the Battle of Hogwarts. Draco continues to throw spells at the Death Eaters around us, but starts to add hexes to his flurry of wand movements and last minute dodges. With one last look at him, I scramble towards the bomb and reach under the seats for it. Once I have it in my possession, I cradle it in my arms. I then cast a patronus charm to send a message to Harry. It takes me a couple tries to calm down enough and focus on a happy memory, but my silver otter soon greets me. "Send the following message to Harry Potter: _Heathrow Airport, Death Eaters, bring help!_" I command at it. As I watch my otter leave with the message, I turn back to the battle between the Death Eaters and Draco.

He seems to be holding his own, but they are slowly overpowering him. I cast a couple of stunners at the Death Eaters and a couple of them fall down. Some of them are starting to notice where I went and fire some curses at me. As fast as I can, I run back to the throng of people with the bomb and try to not get hit by anything. Draco notices me and I signal at him to run. He sees the bomb in my arms and sprints away after casting a sturdy shield charm around himself.

The Death Eaters all turn to look in my direction and I hurl the canister in their direction with all of my strength before any of them can react. As it sails through the air I cast a reducto to detonate it, followed by small shield charm to try and lessen the full effects of the the bomb. It still explodes in a huge fireball and sends many of the Death eaters flying. All of a sudden I feel what seems like a huge hand of fire smack me into the wall. My last thought is of Draco and my last emotion is a mix of worry and relief before everything fades into black.

* * *

Draco's POV

The twins are debating about how they might torture Hermione and I, but I can't bring myself to listen to them. That is, until they mention sectumsempra.

That curse has scared me since the day Scar-Head used it on me. When it hit me that day in the bathroom, it felt like a white hot sword had just sliced my whole torso open. It burned so much, even more than when Voldemort used to use the Cruciatus curse on me when my father failed him. Not only did the wound burn, but I felt like I was choking on my own blood. It was everywhere and started to pool around me. The wounds that the curse make are ridiculously deep. Most victims die of blood loss, but thankfully Snape was there to use the counterspell. The spell is not something to be trifled with and I feel very scared at the very mention of it.

I'm sure Hermione has noticed me tense up since she knows everything, but I hope that none of the Death Eaters have. If they notice the slightest sign of weakness, they will descend upon it like vultures. The Carrows keep talking and the rest of Death Eaters have pretty much all joined the group. I start to descend back into my panic mode but just as I'm about to let go, I see Hermione mouth 'cover me' out of the corner of my eye. I turn briefly and see the fire in her eyes. I can tell she isn't going down without a fight here, and her courage suddenly bolsters my own. I look back at her with a determined expression and cast stupefy at the twins before my mind can tell me not to.

As soon as I've cast the first spell, the rest comes naturally. I immerse myself in the calm nature of my battle mindset. I visualize my spell set and just keep rotating through them. I allow myself to see all of the movement around me by adjusting my vision to a slightly more blurry state and using my peripherals. I cast the spells and perform the arm movements like a dance. I dodge the spells with practised ease, the choreography of battle being like second nature. All of the practise from the Battle of Hogwarts and the raids we used to do as Death Eaters have allowed it all to be muscle memory. It's entirely different and so much easier than it was just 4 years ago when Voldemort first came back.

However just like these skills have come back so easily to me, so have they for the rest of the Death Eaters. Most of the wizards I'm facing now are some of the top dark wizards in history, and I'm just a child who had to grow up way too early. As I cast more and more spells, my arms become more sloppy and I start to mess up. Facing off against almost 12 fully trained adult Death Eaters tires you out faster than I expected.

I realize that the defensive spells I chose previously are no longer going to cut it, so I start introducing more hexes and curses. The whole time I keep track of all of them in my mind in a pattern so that I can fight on auto pilot.

While I'm fighting off the Death Eaters, my subconscious mind sees Hermione scrambling to get a silver canister from under some of the seats. It sees her cast a patronus to get help. It sees her try her best to ease my load by stupefying some of the Death Eaters on the fringe of the circle. Thankfully, my conscious mind picks up on her signalling for me to run away. I quickly cast a shield charm and run as fast as I can. As I start running I realize that she's obviously trying to throw the cylinder at them in the hopes of it getting rid of them. When she throws it I realize that it's going to explode and that it must be one of their bombs. When a spells makes contact with it and a fireball suddenly swirls around it, I realize that she isn't far away enough to not be affected by it. When I see her body start to fly I realize that even though I'm further away than her, I'm still not entirely safe.

The resounding shockwave that's expelled pushes me back into a pillar support. The glass around us all shatters, but thankfully none of it hits me. However some of the flying rubble from the nearby crater that the bomb created does. Most of it is just small shards that nick my skin, but one particularly large piece lands right on my leg. I hear an awful snapping sound and some crunching as well when it makes impact. I've probably broken it, but at least I'm still alive. Suddenly I remember that Hermione was even closer than me. With greater speed than you would think is possible, I stand up while grabbing my wand and hobble over to where Hermione's now somewhat broken body lies.

She lies in a pile of rubble next to the wall and some small fires. I carefully pull her out after moving the pieces of concrete around her. She must have hit the wall with a decent amount of force because the back of her head seems to oozing a lot of blood. There are millions of tiny cuts all over her and her clothes are all shredded. Her left leg and right arm seems to bent at really awkward angles and I suspect that they are probably broken. I carefully position her on her back like my mother taught me when I was younger in the case that someone was knocked unconscious. I guess since she'd wed a Death Eater it was a decent thing to be worried about. I check her pulse and feel a huge wave of relief when I feel the steady beating of it. I pull my wand out and start to heal the more basic cuts on her face and the skin that has been exposed.

I'm halfway through healing the minor cuts when I hear a voice holler through the terminal along with a handful of new voices. It makes me freeze what I'm doing and groan internally.

"Stop Malfoy, put your wand down and step away from her." I turn around in my awkwardly crouched position to see Ron Weasley with a very red, angry, and worried face. "What have you done to Hermione? I knew you couldn't be trusted! Did you tip the rest of your Death Eaters pals about today? Did you bring them here just to kill her and the rest of our class?"

As he screams at me I can't help but feel pity for the man-child standing in front of me now. He's so ignorant and stupid. He seems to care more about yelling at me and proving that he was right about me still being a Death Eater, than taking care of Hermione.

"As a matter of fact Weasel, I was trying to heal her seeing as how she's currently just alive. Now if you could go get someone more qualified at medical care than you or myself that would be wonderful. Actually, that's probably too much to ask of you in one go. I'll do it myself." Suddenly Weasel grabs my arm and twists it closer to him. I resist the urge to slap him for that. I hate it when people touch me without my consent or warning.

"You're not going anyway till I get a confession from you." He snarls at me. I'm about to deliver a very insulting retort when Potter suddenly appears next to me and starts telling Ron off.

"Ron you can't do that! Can't you tell he's injured as well? He's just barely standing. And he's probably one of only reasons the Death Eaters weren't busy torturing muggles when we walked in here." Ron turns even redder in the face at Harry's words.

"What are you talking about? He's a Death Eater! There's no way he would help the muggles. He probably did this to Hermione on purpose to get back at her." He yells accusingly and pointing at Hermione.

"Ron, I'm going to have to ask you to leave before you cause someone else harm right now. We have to deal with this mess as soon as possible, and as your supervisor right now I can't have anyone causing unnecessary trouble."

"You can't d-" He splutters before Potter cuts him off.

"I can and I will, do not make me suspend you from duty." To his credit, Weasel stops putting up a fight and with a grumble disapparates on the spot. I hope he's so angry that he splinches himself.

"Now Malfoy, what on earth happened here? I was just in my office taking care of paperwork when I got Hermione's patronus about being in Heathrow Airport and there being Death Eaters." I'm about to respond to him but my adrenaline rush from earlier has started to fade and all of a sudden pain explodes in the leg I broke as well as everywhere else in my body. With a cry I fall down and my vision starts to fade as I feel tiredness seeping into my veins.

At the edges of my vision I see Potter reach out in an attempt to stop my from falling.

"No, dammit Malfoy, don't do this to me!" But his words are for naught because my mind goes blank and I pass out.

* * *

Author's Note: The bombs mentioned are real and are called FAE for short. If you want to see a short explanation of how they work, look up 'fuel air bombs' in google and take a look in images. There should be a blue diagram near the top. It's been awhile since I've done a split chapter, but I didn't think that I had enough content to post them seperately. Thanks for all the support guys, it's really appreciated. Please read and review! Have a great week, till next time.


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